During userspace stress testing on a KASAN-enabled host, a host-side callfd replacement concurrent with ordinary SCSI completions exposed an eventfd_ctx lifetime race. The test requires access to /dev/vhost-scsi and a host process that can issue VHOST_SET_VRING_CALL; on the default device permissions this normally means root or an explicitly delegated service. The test used TUR completions while closing the old callfd and binding a new one. The unbind form tends to produce a NULL pointer, while replacing the callfd after closing the old file makes the old eventfd_ctx eligible for release. vhost_scsi_complete_cmd_work() drops vq->mutex before calling vhost_signal(). VHOST_SET_VRING_CALL updates call_ctx under the same mutex and puts the old eventfd_ctx before returning. vhost_signal() does not take the mutex or hold a reference to call_ctx.ctx: if (vq->call_ctx.ctx && vhost_notify(dev, vq)) eventfd_signal(vq->call_ctx.ctx); CPU 0 (ioctl / callfd replace) CPU 1 (vhost worker) vhost_scsi_complete_cmd_work() mutex_unlock(&vq->mutex) vhost_signal() /* load old ctx */ vhost_notify() ... VHOST_SET_VRING_CALL mutex_lock(&vq->mutex) swap(vq->call_ctx.ctx, new) eventfd_ctx_put(old) /* free */ mutex_unlock(&vq->mutex) eventfd_signal(old) /* use-after-free */ On the reproducing run, the worker ran on CPU 1 and the callfd ioctl path ran on CPU 0. KASAN reported: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in eventfd_signal_mask+0x6c/0x110 The use stack was: eventfd_signal_mask vhost_signal vhost_scsi_complete_cmd_work vhost_run_work_list vhost_task_fn The freeing stack was: eventfd_ctx_put vhost_vring_ioctl vhost_scsi_ioctl __x64_sys_ioctl Hold vq->mutex across vhost_signal() so SET_VRING_CALL cannot swap and release the context while the completion worker is notifying the guest. This gives the completion and callfd update a clear ordering without changing the vhost API or adding a new lock. Other vhost-scsi response paths already signal while holding the virtqueue mutex. A private eventfd reference taken under the mutex would allow signalling after unlock, but it needs additional reference-count plumbing. An RCU design would require broader vhost-core changes for all call_ctx readers and additional eventfd lifetime rules. Since callfd changes are a control-plane operation, extending the existing per-virtqueue critical section is the smaller complete fix. This is an RFC because keeping vhost_notify() and eventfd_signal() inside the virtqueue critical section extends the lock hold time slightly. I'd appreciate feedback on whether this is acceptable or whether a reference-pinning approach, taking the reference under the mutex and releasing it after unlock, would be preferable. Signed-off-by: Jia Jia --- drivers/vhost/scsi.c | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/drivers/vhost/scsi.c b/drivers/vhost/scsi.c index 9a1253b9d8c5..7f46bc0de3c2 100644 --- a/drivers/vhost/scsi.c +++ b/drivers/vhost/scsi.c @@ -735,10 +735,9 @@ static void vhost_scsi_complete_cmd_work(struct vhost_work *work) vhost_scsi_release_cmd_res(se_cmd); } - mutex_unlock(&svq->vq.mutex); - if (signal) vhost_signal(&svq->vs->dev, &svq->vq); + mutex_unlock(&svq->vq.mutex); } static struct vhost_scsi_cmd * -- 2.34.1