In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
gpio: sch: use raw_spinlock_t in the irq startup path
sch_irq_unmask() enables the GPIO IRQ and then updates the controller
state through sch_irq_mask_unmask(), which takes sch->lock with
spin_lock_irqsave(). The callback can be reached from irq_startup()
while setting up a requested IRQ. That path is not sleepable, but on
PREEMPT_RT a regular spinlock_t becomes a sleeping lock.
This issue was found by our static analysis tool and then manually
reviewed against the current tree.
The grounded PoC kept the request_threaded_irq() -> __setup_irq() ->
irq_startup() -> sch_irq_unmask() -> sch_irq_mask_unmask() carrier and
used the original spin_lock_irqsave(&sch->lock) edge. Lockdep reported:
BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context
hardirqs last disabled at ... __setup_irq.constprop.0 ... [vuln_msv]
sch_rt_spin_lock_irqsave+0x1c/0x30 [vuln_msv]
sch_irq_mask_unmask.constprop.0+0x31/0x70 [vuln_msv]
__setup_irq.constprop.0+0xd/0x30 [vuln_msv]
Convert the SCH controller lock to raw_spinlock_t. The same lock is
also used by the GPIO direction and value callbacks, but those critical
sections only update MMIO-backed GPIO registers and do not contain
sleepable operations. Keeping this register lock non-sleeping is
therefore appropriate for the irqchip callbacks and does not change the
GPIO-side locking contract.