published January 14, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
scs: fix a wrong parameter in __scs_magic
__scs_magic() needs a 'void *' variable, but a 'struct task_struct *' is
given. 'task_scs(tsk)' is the starting address of the task's shadow call
stack, and '__scs_magic(task_scs(tsk))' is the end address of the task's
shadow call stack. Here should be '__scs_magic(task_scs(tsk))'.
The user-visible effect of this bug is that when CONFIG_DEBUG_STACK_USAGE
is enabled, the shadow call stack usage checking function
(scs_check_usage) would scan an incorrect memory range. This could lead
1. **Inaccurate stack usage reporting**: The function would calculate
wrong usage statistics for the shadow call stack, potentially showing
incorrect value in kmsg.
2. **Potential kernel crash**: If the value of __scs_magic(tsk)is
greater than that of __scs_magic(task_scs(tsk)), the for loop may
access unmapped memory, potentially causing a kernel panic. However,
this scenario is unlikely because task_struct is allocated via the slab
allocator (which typically returns lower addresses), while the shadow
call stack returned by task_scs(tsk) is allocated via vmalloc(which
typically returns higher addresses).
However, since this is purely a debugging feature
(CONFIG_DEBUG_STACK_USAGE), normal production systems should be not
unaffected. The bug only impacts developers and testers who are actively
debugging stack usage with this configuration enabled.