Affected: Linux

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

HID: appleir: fix UAF on pending key_up_timer in remove()

appleir_remove() runs hid_hw_stop() before timer_delete_sync(). hid_hw_stop() synchronously unregisters the HID input device via hid_disconnect() -> hidinput_disconnect() -> input_unregister_device(), which drops the last reference and frees the underlying input_dev when no userspace handle holds it open.

key_up_tick() reads appleir->input_dev and calls input_report_key() / input_sync() on it. The timer is armed from appleir_raw_event() with a HZ/8 (~125 ms) timeout on every keydown and key-repeat report. If a key was pressed shortly before the device is disconnected, the timer can fire after hid_hw_stop() has freed input_dev but before the teardown drains it.

A simple reorder is not sufficient. Putting the timer drain first still leaves a window where a USB URB completion (raw_event) running during hid_hw_stop() can call mod_timer() and re-arm the timer, which then fires after hidinput_disconnect() has freed input_dev. The same URB-completion window also lets raw_event() reach key_up(), key_down() and battery_flat() directly, all of which dereference appleir->input_dev.

Introduce a 'removing' flag on struct appleir, gated by the existing spinlock. appleir_remove() sets the flag under the lock and then shuts down the timer with timer_shutdown_sync(), which both drains any in-flight callback and permanently disables further mod_timer() calls.…