[PATCH] lib: gui: png_pico: fix use-after-free and double-free in png_open
Ahmad Fatoum
a.fatoum at pengutronix.de
Tue Jun 2 00:58:05 PDT 2026
Hello,
Thanks for the fix.
On 6/2/26 4:24 AM, Johannes Schneider wrote:
> From: Thomas Haemmerle <thomas.haemmerle at leica-geosystems.com>
>
> png_alloc_free_all() frees all picopng-internal allocations, including
> the image->data buffer. The previous code stored a pointer to this
> buffer in img->data and called png_alloc_free_all() — leaving img->data
> as a dangling pointer. The subsequent png_close()'s free(img->data)
> then performed a double-free on already-freed memory, causing a crash or
> heap corruption when displaying the boot logo.
>
> Fix by copying the decoded pixel data into a fresh malloc buffer before
> calling png_alloc_free_all(). png_close() correctly frees this copy.
Never ceases to amaze how long memory corruption can go unnoticed..
> - pr_debug("png: %d x %d data at 0x%p\n", img->width, img->height, img->data);
> + /*
> + * Copy decoded pixels to a stable buffer before png_alloc_free_all()
> + * frees the picopng internal allocations (including image->data).
> + * Without this copy, img->data would be a dangling pointer and
> + * png_close()'s free(img->data) would be a double-free.
> + */
> + imgsize = png_info->width * png_info->height * 4;
> + imgcopy = malloc(imgsize);
> + if (!imgcopy) {
> + ret = -ENOMEM;
> + goto err;
> + }
> + memcpy(imgcopy, png_info->image->data, imgsize);
>
> png_alloc_free_all();
>
> + img->data = imgcopy;
> +
> + pr_debug("png: %d x %d data at 0x%p\n", img->width, img->height, img->data);
> +
I would prefer avoiding the memory copy here. My suggestion would be adding
(untested):
void *png_alloc_detach(void *addr)
{
for (png_alloc_node_t *node = png_alloc_tail; node; node = node->prev) {
if (node->addr == addr) {
png_alloc_remove_node(node);
return addr;
}
}
return NULL;
}
and then a single line change in png_open:
- img->data = png_info->image->data
+ img->data = png_alloc_detach(png_info->image->data);
What do you think?
Cheers,
Ahmad
> return img;
> err:
> png_alloc_free_all();
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