CVE-2024-54683
kernel: netfilter: IDLETIMER: Fix for possible ABBA deadlock
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · January 11, 2025
Updated · October 29, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
netfilter: IDLETIMER: Fix for possible ABBA deadlock
Deletion of the last rule referencing a given idletimer may happen at the same time as a read of its file in sysfs:
| ====================================================== | WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected | 6.12.0-rc7-01692-g5e9a28f41134-dirty #594 Not tainted | ------------------------------------------------------ | iptables/3303 is trying to acquire lock: | ffff8881057e04b8 (kn->active#48){++++}-{0:0}, at: __kernfs_remove+0x20 | | but task is already holding lock: | ffffffffa0249068 (list_mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: idletimer_tg_destroy_v] | | which lock already depends on the new lock.
A simple reproducer is:
| #!/bin/bash | | while true; do | iptables -A INPUT -i foo -j IDLETIMER --timeout 10 --label "testme" | iptables -D INPUT -i foo -j IDLETIMER --timeout 10 --label "testme" | done & | while true; do | cat /sys/class/xt_idletimer/timers/testme >/dev/null | done
Avoid this by freeing list_mutex right after deleting the element from the list, then continuing with the teardown.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
No mitigation is specified in collected source.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 5.5CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-667 · Improper Locking