published September 12, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sched_ext: Fix this_rq() assumptions in dispatch kfuncs
Under core scheduling, dispatch runs from within the core-wide pick and can
target a sibling rq, so ops.dispatch() may execute on a CPU different from
the dispatched rq's. Several kfunc paths assumed the two always coincide:
- scx_dsq_move() decided whether an rq lock is held by testing this_rq()'s
rq flags and lock-danced accordingly. A dispatch for a sibling took the
unlocked-context branch and acquired the source rq lock on top of the
already held dispatched rq lock which could deadlock.
- scx_bpf_sub_dispatch() dispatched this_rq() with its stashed
sub_dispatch_prev, which is NULL when dispatching for a sibling.
- finish_dispatch(), scx_bpf_dsq_reenq() and scx_bpf_dsq_nr_queued()
resolved SCX_DSQ_LOCAL to this CPU's local DSQ rather than the dispatched
rq's. The latter two are callable from other rq-locked operations too,
where SCX_DSQ_LOCAL now likewise resolves to the op's rq. This changes
behavior also without core scheduling, e.g. for ops.enqueue() running a
remote wakeup on the waking CPU, and is intended: which CPU happens to
execute an operation is incidental, the op's rq is what it is operating
on, and the resolution now matches the insert side where SCX_DSQ_LOCAL
dispatches land on the task's rq.
Use the rq tracked by scx_locked_rq(), which is set to the dispatched rq
around ops invocations and NULL in unlocked contexts.