CVE-2026-31667
Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 7.8 High
- Published
- Apr 24, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 19, 2026
- Reserved
- Mar 9, 2026
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core
A lockdep circular locking dependency warning can be triggered reproducibly when using a force-feedback gamepad with uinput (for example, playing ELDEN RING under Wine with a Flydigi Vader 5 controller):
ff->mutex -> udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex
The cycle is caused by four lock acquisition paths:
1. ff upload: input_ff_upload() holds ff->mutex and calls uinput_dev_upload_effect() -> uinput_request_submit() -> uinput_request_send(), which acquires udev->mutex.
2. device create: uinput_ioctl_handler() holds udev->mutex and calls uinput_create_device() -> input_register_device(), which acquires input_mutex.
3. device register: input_register_device() holds input_mutex and calls kbd_connect() -> input_register_handle(), which acquires dev->mutex.
4. evdev release: evdev_release() calls input_flush_device() under dev->mutex, which calls input_ff_flush() acquiring ff->mutex.
Fix this by introducing a new state_lock spinlock to protect udev->state and udev->dev access in uinput_request_send() instead of acquiring udev->mutex. The function only needs to atomically check device state and queue an input event into the ring buffer via uinput_dev_event() -- both operations are safe under a spinlock (ktime_get_ts64() and wake_up_interruptible() do not sleep). This breaks the ff->mutex -> udev->mutex link since a spinlock is a leaf in the lock ordering and cannot form cycles with mutexes.
To keep state transitions visible to uinput_request_send(), protect writes to udev->state in uinput_create_device() and uinput_destroy_device() with the same state_lock spinlock.
Additionally, move init_completion(&request->done) from uinput_request_send() to uinput_request_submit() before uinput_request_reserve_slot(). Once the slot is allocated, uinput_flush_requests() may call complete() on it at any time from the destroy path, so the completion must be initialised before the request becomes visible.
Lock ordering after the fix:
ff->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf) udev->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf) udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex (no back-edge)
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 7.8 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | Linux |
Weaknesses
- CWE-362 Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
LinuxLinux |
|
LinuxLinux |
|
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/71a9729f412e2c692a35c542e14b706fb342927f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/271ee71a1917b89f6d73ec82dd091c33d92ee617
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/974f7b138c3a96dd5cd53d1b33409cd7b2229dc6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/546c18a14924eb521fe168d916d7ce28f1e13c1d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a3d6c9c053c9c605651508569230ead633b13f76
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1e09dfbb4f5d20ee111f92325a00f85778a5f328
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1534661043c434b81cfde26b97a2fb2460329cf0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4cda78d6f8bf2b700529f2fbccb994c3e826d7c2
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