In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: spi: Fix DMA mapping ownership on partial map failure If RX mapping fails after TX mapping succeeds, __spi_map_msg() unmaps TX but leaves tx_sg_mapped set

Overview

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

spi: Fix DMA mapping ownership on partial map failure

If RX mapping fails after TX mapping succeeds, __spi_map_msg() unmaps TX but leaves tx_sg_mapped set. If TX mapping fails on a later transfer, mappings created for earlier transfers remain active.

In both cases, cur_{tx,rx}_dma_dev have not yet been updated because they are assigned only after every transfer has been mapped. The subsequent spi_unmap_msg() may therefore unmap the TX mapping again or release earlier mappings using a NULL or stale device. Using a NULL device can trigger an oops. An empty SG table does not prevent the NULL dereference because dma_unmap_sg_attrs() accesses the device before checking the entry count.

Publish both mapping devices before mapping starts and unwind all failures through __spi_unmap_msg(). This clears the mapping flags and releases each mapping once with the device that created it.

Publishing the devices before the loop also refreshes them when no transfer needs mapping. No mapping flag is set in that case, so current users do not use the pointers as mapping owners.

Remediation

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

Vendor advisories

• Red Hat VEX · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · updated 2026-10-23 · vex