nitro_enclaves: fix use-after-free on SLOT_ALLOC failure

Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

nitro_enclaves: fix use-after-free on SLOT_ALLOC failure

When ne_create_vm_ioctl() fails the SLOT_ALLOC request after anon_inode_getfile() has succeeded, the error path calls fput(enclave_file) and then frees ne_enclave.

In normal userspace context, fput() defers the final __fput() via task_work. ne_enclave_release() therefore runs after ne_enclave has already been freed and dereferences ne_enclave->slot_uid, causing a use-after-free: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ne_enclave_release.

The enclave has no slot allocated and is not yet linked into the enclaves list on this error path, so ne_enclave_release() is expected to return early when slot_uid is zero. However, reading slot_uid already accesses the freed object.

Clear enclave_file->private_data before fput() on the error path. ne_enclave_release() then returns immediately when private_data is NULL, leaving the ioctl error path as the sole owner of ne_enclave. This is safe because the file has not been fd_install()'d yet.

Tested on an AWS EC2 m5.2xlarge with CONFIG_KASAN=y. Without the patch, the reproducer triggers a KASAN slab-use-after-free on every SLOT_ALLOC failure. With the patch, no KASAN report is produced and the SLOT_ALLOC error is still returned. Normal enclave creation and teardown are unaffected.

Affected

• Linux >= 9c8eb50fe9e2bb8a2e725979e052fbf592b6b799 < 466041d14f26dc2babd606a2e85dce08774112a6
• Linux >= 9c8eb50fe9e2bb8a2e725979e052fbf592b6b799 < f7fb6c2835ede1b8ad84cf7e78a528a9d0159b84
• Linux >= 9c8eb50fe9e2bb8a2e725979e052fbf592b6b799 < 43f78b328f3907ca2f7424e15b7e45ffbf9fe21c
• Linux >= 9c8eb50fe9e2bb8a2e725979e052fbf592b6b799 < 9bc184a2eda8b773c88ecbff934001ad649b9cc1
• Linux 5.10

Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.