HIGH Introduced in 5.14
sched CoreSched Race
CVE-2026-89520
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
KernelScan AI7.0HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/core: Make core-sched flips wait for in-flight selections Core scheduling's pick_next_task() operates on all sibling rqs under one acquisition of the shared core-wide lock. A ->pick_task() that releases the rq lock leaves every sibling __lock momentarily free, letting __sched_core_flip(false) complete mid-selection and rebind rq_lockp() under it. The selection resumes on the split locks, touching sibling state it no longer protects, and __schedule() finally releases a lock that was never taken while leaking the one that was. Count in-flight core-wide selections in the leader's rq->core_pick_in_flight and make __sched_core_flip() wait for the count to drain. The count only changes under the shared lock, which the flip holds while sampling, so no other ordering is needed. The wait can repeat while selections overlap, but the flip backs off between samples and flips are rare cookie-lifetime events. sched_core_cpu_deactivate() moves the count to the new leader - a stale copy left behind would bias it forever if that CPU later returns as its own leader.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
A race condition in the core scheduling subsystem allows a local attacker to trigger lock rebinding during an in-flight task selection, leading to use of unprotected sibling runqueue state and lock leakage. This can result in memory corruption, privilege escalation, or system crash.
Vulnerability analysis
A race condition exists in the scheduler's core task selection. While the scheduler is choosing the next task across a processor core, it can briefly release a shared lock. If a core configuration change swaps the locks during that window, the selection finishes using mismatched locks. It then accesses runqueue state that is no longer protected and releases a lock that was never acquired. The fix tracks active selections and forces configuration changes to wait until they finish before rebinding locks. Any local user with a running process on a system with core scheduling enabled can trigger the vulnerable scheduling path.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.12 | 5.14 | 6.12.112 | 3e2511bffa93 |
| 6.18 | 5.14 | 6.18.51 | 9d69422ddaa1 |
| 7.2 | 5.14 | 7.2.4 | 23eda24f325a |
| mainline | 5.14 | 7.3-rc1 | f3629c63a4af |