CVE-2026-89517: sched_ext: Fix rq->core_pick corruption under core scheduling
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
schedext: Fix rq->corepick corruption under core scheduling
Core scheduling's picknexttask() picks what to run on every SMT sibling of the core in a single pass under the shared core-wide rq lock. The selection state is consistent only while the lock is held continuously, so ->picktask() originally could not release it. However, since 4c95380701f5 ("sched/ext: Fold balancescx() into picktaskscx()"), schedext runs dispatch from inside the pick and dispatching can drop the rq lock. To support this, picknexttask() has been updated to restart the whole selection when a pick returns RETRYTASK after releasing the lock.
When selections on the same core interleave through the dropped lock, they corrupt each other's state: one clears the other's rq->corepick leading to a NULL deref, or invalidates its keep-the-previous-task decision leaving a dequeued task running, which deadlocks the next wakeup and matches the reported hard hangs. A cookied ping-pong load on an SMT machine makes the interleavings frequent and kills the kernel within seconds.
Fix it by making the pick return RETRYTASK whenever dispatch released the rq lock, so that a selection only ever commits picks made under a continuously held lock. The previous patch's rq->scx.lockdropseq counts the releases. A dispatch that touched nothing never releases the lock and its verdict, including "nothing to run", stands: retries are bounded, each following a dispatch that actually did something, and an idle CPU does not loop.
If another dispatch is already in flight on the rq, skip dispatching and pick from what is already queued locally - the in-flight dispatch has released the lock, so its own selection will retry and re-pick this rq, while returning RETRYTASK here would only spin on the lock that dispatch needs to finish.
Balance callbacks must run in the context that queued them, so they can only be queued on the CPU's own rq. When dispatching for another rq, run the deferred work directly instead - that rq may consume all its picks through the core-sched fast path and never queue the callback itself.
The putprevtaskscx() warning about a runnable task being left behind assumed that dispatch ran as part of the very pick that is switching away. That now only holds on the non-core path, so gate it and drop the cookie-match test, which is always true without core scheduling, from its condition.
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
Linux kernel sched_extto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Patch 4c95380701f5 - Configuration
Apply the resolved fix so that the non-core path behavior is gated under core scheduling, preventing rq->core_pick corruption when pick returns RETRY_TASK after releasing the rq lock.
sched_ext (core scheduling path) dispatch/selection locking behavior = gate non-core behavior and only commit selections made under continuous core-wide rq lock
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Which systems are exposed to this issue?
Systems running the Linux kernel with sched_ext and core scheduling on an SMT machine are exposed to the described race condition. The reported reproducer uses a cookied ping-pong workload on such a system.
What conditions are needed to trigger the failure?
The race requires task selections on SMT siblings of the same core to interleave after sched_ext dispatch drops the shared runqueue lock. This can corrupt rq->core_pick or invalidate a previous-task decision, causing a NULL dereference or a hard hang.
How can an administrator recognize a likely impact?
Observed symptoms include kernel NULL dereferences and hard hangs, including a deadlock on a subsequent task wakeup. Under the described cookied ping-pong workload on an SMT system, the kernel may fail within seconds.
What mitigation is available if an update cannot be applied immediately?
The provided information identifies sched_ext together with core scheduling and SMT as the affected operating conditions. It does not provide a specific temporary configuration workaround.