KernelScan.io

HIGH Introduced in 5.15

futex RequeuePI UAF

CVE-2026-90003

CVSS 7.8 / 10.0 NVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

KernelScan AI6.9MEDIUM

01

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: futex: Prevent rcuwait use-after-free during requeue PI On PREEMPT_RT, FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI can trigger a KASAN report (slab-out-of-bounds) in futex_requeue_pi_complete() invocation of rcuwait_wake_up(). The futex_q used by futex_wait_requeue_pi() is allocated on the waiter's stack. An early wakeup can race with a PI requeue as follows: waiter requeue task ------ ------------ futex_wait_requeue_pi() futex_do_wait() schedule() futex_requeue futex_proxy_trylock_atomic() futex_requeue_pi_prepare() Q_REQUEUE_PI_NONE -> Q_REQUEUE_PI_IN_PROGRESS * timeout/ signal wakes waiter * futex_requeue_pi_wakeup_sync() Q_REQUEUE_PI_IN_PROGRESS -> Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT requeue_pi_wake_futex futex_requeue_pi_complete() cmpxchg Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT -> Q_REQUEUE_PI_LOCKED rcuwait_wait_event() if (atomic_read(&q->requeue_state) != Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT) break /* no schedule() */ /* q.pi_state->owner == current */ futex_private_hash_put() /* return from syscall */ rcuwait_wake_up(&q->requeue_wait) /* q is gone */ futex_requeue_pi_complete() publishes Q_REQUEUE_PI_LOCKED before calling rcuwait_wake_up(). The waiter observes this state in rcuwait_wait_event() before invoking schedule() in rcuwait_wait_event(). Here, the waiter is free leave the syscall before requeue task can complete the wake. To address this race skip rcuwait_wake_up() in the Q_REQUEUE_PI_LOCKED case. This state is only published by requeue_pi_wake_futex(), which saves q->task before futex_requeue_pi_complete() and wakes the waiter via wake_up_state(). This wake is intended to wake the waiter from its futex_do_wait() sleep. If the waiter is still sleeping there, it can not get into the Q_REQUEUE_PI_WAIT state (and require this removed wake). Should the waiter be woken up from futex_do_wait() by other means (as in this example) and sleep in futex_requeue_pi_wakeup_sync() then the wake_up_state() from requeue_pi_wake_futex() will wake it, too. Should the waiter task terminate before wake_up_state() had a chance to wake the task then the task pointer does not become invalid because the futex_hash_bucket::lock is held and the task pointer is RCU protected. [bigeasy: Updated comment and commit message]

02

Engine v0.6.0

Risk summary

A local unprivileged user on a PREEMPT_RT kernel can trigger a use-after-free in the futex PI requeue path by racing an early wakeup (signal or timeout) against a concurrent FUTEX_CMP_REQUEUE_PI operation. The freed stack memory can be corrupted, potentially leading to kernel code execution or a system crash. This requires a PREEMPT_RT kernel configuration and a carefully timed race window.

Affectedkernel/futex/requeue.c (futex subsystem)

Vulnerability analysis

During a PI futex requeue wait, the waiter's futex_q object lives on its kernel stack. A race occurs when an early wakeup from a signal or timeout interleaves with a concurrent requeue operation: the requeue path publishes a completed state and then attempts to wake the waiter via rcuwait_wake_up(), but the waiter can observe that completed state first, skip scheduling, and exit the syscall—freeing its stack before the wake-up call accesses the now-stale futex_q. The fix skips the rcuwait wake-up in the specific state transition that triggers this race, relying instead on an earlier wake_up_state() call that safely references the task pointer under RCU protection and the futex hash bucket lock. This vulnerability is only present on PREEMPT_RT kernels and is reachable by any local user through standard futex syscalls without requiring elevated privileges.

03

BranchIntroducedFixed inPatch commit
6.15.156.1.188220ee9e04ca3
6.65.156.6.15781aadbd09bf1
6.125.156.12.110244f301759fd
6.185.156.18.517d1559126d86
mainline5.157.3-rc2a3b8d46fe401
7.25.157.2.5e4a4ccfa470f
cip/6.125.156.12.111-cip32244f301759fd