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HIGH

fbcon: Set fb_display[i]->mode to NULL when the mode is released

Published Dec 8, 2025

Description

Recently, we discovered the following issue through syzkaller:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in fb_mode_is_equal+0x285/0x2f0 Read of size 4 at addr ff11000001b3c69c by task syz.xxx ... Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0xab/0xe0 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x2c/0x390 print_report+0xb9/0x280 kasan_report+0xb8/0xf0 fb_mode_is_equal+0x285/0x2f0 fbcon_mode_deleted+0x129/0x180 fb_set_var+0xe7f/0x11d0 do_fb_ioctl+0x6a0/0x750 fb_ioctl+0xe0/0x140 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x193/0x210 do_syscall_64+0x5f/0x9c0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

Based on experimentation and analysis, during framebuffer unregistration, only the memory of fb_info->modelist is freed, without setting the corresponding fb_display[i]->mode to NULL for the freed modes. This leads to UAF issues during subsequent accesses. Here's an example of reproduction steps: 1. With /dev/fb0 already registered in the system, load a kernel module to register a new device /dev/fb1; 2. Set fb1's mode to the global fb_display[] array (via FBIOPUT_CON2FBMAP); 3. Switch console from fb to VGA (to allow normal rmmod of the ko); 4. Unload the kernel module, at this point fb1's modelist is freed, leaving a wild pointer in fb_display[]; 5. Trigger the bug via system calls through fb0 attempting to delete a mode from fb0.

Add a check in do_unregister_framebuffer(): if the mode to be freed exists in fb_display[], set the corresponding mode pointer to NULL.

Affected products

Remediation

Red Hat mitigation

Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria, comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.

Metrics

Weaknesses (1)

References (11)

Change history (0)

No recorded changes yet.

Sources
CVE.org / MITRE
Status PUBLISHED
Assigner Linux
Published Dec 8, 2025
Updated Aug 5, 2026
Reserved Apr 16, 2025
NVD
Status Deferred
Modified Jul 30, 2026
Red Hat
Severity Moderate
Public date Dec 8, 2025