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High · 7.8 CVE-2021-47209 EUVD-2021-33857GHSA-m59q-rgx4-6vq4

sched/fair: Prevent dead task groups from regaining cfs_rq's

Published Apr 10, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

sched/fair: Prevent dead task groups from regaining cfs_rq's

Kevin is reporting crashes which point to a use-after-free of a cfs_rq
in update_blocked_averages(). Initial debugging revealed that we've
live cfs_rq's (on_list=1) in an about to be kfree()'d task group in
free_fair_sched_group(). However, it was unclear how that can happen.

His kernel config happened to lead to a layout of struct sched_entity
that put the 'my_q' member directly into the middle of the object
which makes it incidentally overlap with SLUB's freelist pointer.
That, in combination with SLAB_FREELIST_HARDENED's freelist pointer
mangling, leads to a reliable access violation in form of a #GP which
made the UAF fail fast.

Michal seems to have run into the same issue[1]. He already correctly
diagnosed that commit a7b359fc6a37 ("sched/fair: Correctly insert
cfs_rq's to list on unthrottle") is causing the preconditions for the
UAF to happen by re-adding cfs_rq's also to task groups that have no
more running tasks, i.e. also to dead ones. His analysis, however,
misses the real root cause and it cannot be seen from the crash
backtrace only, as the real offender is tg_unthrottle_up() getting
called via sched_cfs_period_timer() via the timer interrupt at an
inconvenient time.

When unregister_fair_sched_group() unlinks all cfs_rq's from the dying
task group, it doesn't protect itself from getting interrupted. If the
timer interrupt triggers while we iterate over all CPUs or after
unregister_fair_sched_group() has finished but prior to unlinking the
task group, sched_cfs_period_timer() will execute and walk the list of
task groups, trying to unthrottle cfs_rq's, i.e. re-add them to the
dying task group. These will later -- in free_fair_sched_group() -- be
kfree()'ed while still being linked, leading to the fireworks Kevin
and Michal are seeing.

To fix this race, ensure the dying task group gets unlinked first.
However, simply switching the order of unregistering and unlinking the
task group isn't sufficient, as concurrent RCU walkers might still see
it, as can be seen below:

CPU1: CPU2:
: timer IRQ:
: do_sched_cfs_period_timer():
: :
: distribute_cfs_runtime():
: rcu_read_lock();
: :
: unthrottle_cfs_rq():
sched_offline_group(): :
: walk_tg_tree_from(…,tg_unthrottle_up,…):
list_del_rcu(&tg->list); :
(1) : list_for_each_entry_rcu(child, &parent->children, siblings)
: :
(2) list_del_rcu(&tg->siblings); :
: tg_unthrottle_up():
unregister_fair_sched_group(): struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq = tg->cfs_rq[cpu_of(rq)];
: :
list_del_leaf_cfs_rq(tg->cfs_rq[cpu]); :
: :
: if (!cfs_rq_is_decayed(cfs_rq) || cfs_rq->nr_running)
(3) : list_add_leaf_cfs_rq(cfs_rq);
: :
: :
: :
: :
:
---truncated---

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.13 5.15.5

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 5.15.5-1 —
Debian 13 linux 5.15.5-1 —
Debian 12 linux 5.15.5-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +20 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +26 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP5 kernel-64kb +5 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLES 15 SP5 kernel-azure +2 5.14.21-150500.33.51.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1644-1
SLES 15 SP5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2.150500.6.27.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLES 15 SP5 kernel-syms 5.14.21-150500.55.62.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLES 15 SP4 kernel-64kb +6 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLES 15 SP4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
Show 10 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 15 SP4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP4 kernel-docs +4 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE Micro 5.5 kernel-default 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLE Micro 5.5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2.150500.6.27.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLE Micro 5.5 kernel-rt +1 5.14.21-150500.13.52.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1663-1
SLE Micro 5.4 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE Micro 5.4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE Micro 5.4 kernel-rt +1 5.14.21-150400.15.79.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1647-1
SLE Micro 5.3 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE Micro 5.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE Micro 5.3 kernel-rt +1 5.14.21-150400.15.79.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1647-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-default 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5-RT_Update_14 1-150500.11.5.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1663-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP5 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP5_Update_13 1-150500.11.3.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP4 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP4 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP4_Update_26 1-150400.9.3.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE HPC 15 SP4 kernel-64kb +5 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SLE HPC 15 SP4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-rt +3 5.14.21-150500.13.52.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1663-1
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-syms +3 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-syms +2 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 15.5 dtb-aarch64 +2 5.14.21-150500.55.62.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-64kb +7 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-azure +2 5.14.21-150500.33.51.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1644-1
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150500.55.62.2.150500.6.27.2 SUSE-SU-2024:1659-1
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-rt +3 5.14.21-150500.13.52.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1663-1
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap Micro 5.4 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
openSUSE Leap Micro 5.4 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
openSUSE Leap Micro 5.4 kernel-rt 5.14.21-150400.15.79.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1647-1
openSUSE Leap Micro 5.3 kernel-default 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
openSUSE Leap Micro 5.3 kernel-default-base 5.14.21-150400.24.119.1.150400.24.56.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1641-1
openSUSE Leap Micro 5.3 kernel-rt 5.14.21-150400.15.79.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1647-1

Advisories 5

References