Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
workqueue: Fix selection of wake_cpu in kick_pool()
With cpu_possible_mask=0-63 and cpu_online_mask=0-7 the following
kernel oops was observed:
smp: Bringing up secondary CPUs ...
smp: Brought up 1 node, 8 CPUs
Unable to handle kernel pointer dereference in virtual kernel address space
Failing address: 0000000000000000 TEID: 0000000000000803
[..]
Call Trace:
arch_vcpu_is_preempted+0x12/0x80
select_idle_sibling+0x42/0x560
select_task_rq_fair+0x29a/0x3b0
try_to_wake_up+0x38e/0x6e0
kick_pool+0xa4/0x198
__queue_work.part.0+0x2bc/0x3a8
call_timer_fn+0x36/0x160
__run_timers+0x1e2/0x328
__run_timer_base+0x5a/0x88
run_timer_softirq+0x40/0x78
__do_softirq+0x118/0x388
irq_exit_rcu+0xc0/0xd8
do_ext_irq+0xae/0x168
ext_int_handler+0xbe/0xf0
psw_idle_exit+0x0/0xc
default_idle_call+0x3c/0x110
do_idle+0xd4/0x158
cpu_startup_entry+0x40/0x48
rest_init+0xc6/0xc8
start_kernel+0x3c4/0x5e0
startup_continue+0x3c/0x50
The crash is caused by calling arch_vcpu_is_preempted() for an offline
CPU. To avoid this, select the cpu with cpumask_any_and_distribute()
to mask __pod_cpumask with cpu_online_mask. In case no cpu is left in
the pool, skip the assignment.
tj: This doesn't fully fix the bug as CPUs can still go down between picking
the target CPU and the wake call. Fixing that likely requires adding
cpu_online() test to either the sched or s390 arch code. However, regardless
of how that is fixed, workqueue shouldn't be picking a CPU which isn't
online as that would result in unpredictable and worse behavior.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.6 | 6.6.31 |
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 6.8.11-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.8.11-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux | 6.8.0-40.40 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws | 6.8.0-1013.14 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure | 6.8.0-1012.14 | USN-6952-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gcp | 6.8.0-1012.13 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gke | 6.8.0-1008.11 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-ibm +2 | 6.8.0-1010.10 | USN-6955-1, USN-6952-1, USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia | 6.8.0-1011.11 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-lowlatency | 6.8.0-1011.11.1 | USN-6952-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 6.8.0-1009.10 | USN-6949-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv +1 | 6.8.0-40.40.1 | USN-6949-2 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-aws-6.8 | 6.8.0-1013.14~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-azure-6.8 | 6.8.0-1012.14~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-gcp-6.8 | 6.8.0-1012.13~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-hwe-6.8 | 6.8.0-40.40~22.04.3 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-6.8 | 6.8.0-1011.11~22.04.1 | USN-6949-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-oracle-6.8 | 6.8.0-1010.10~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +22 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv-6.8 +1 | 6.8.0-40.40.1~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | linux-gke +26 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | linux-gcp +13 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | linux-hwe-edge | No fix yet | — |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | 6.8.0-2008.8 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-realtime | 6.8.1-1006.6 | — |
Advisories 6
- USN-6955-1 linux-oem-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6952-2 linux-azure vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6952-1 linux-nvidia-lowlatency, linux-oracle vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6949-2 linux-lowlatency, linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- USN-6949-1 linux, linux-aws, linux-gcp, linux-gke, linux-ibm, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Oct 26, 2026
- WID-SEC-2024-1259 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service und unspezifischen Angriff BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 7, 2026