published September 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
btrfs: zstd: fix lost wakeup when waiting for a workspace
A writer can sleep forever in zstd_get_workspace() even though a workspace
is free. When zstd_alloc_workspace() fails, the task is queued on
zwsm->wait and schedules unconditionally, never re-testing the pool.
zstd_put_workspace() publishes the workspace and then calls cond_wake_up(),
which only wakes when a sleeper is already visible, so a workspace returned
between the failed allocation and prepare_to_wait() wakes nobody. The
window is wide: zstd_alloc_workspace() goes through kvmalloc() and may
enter reclaim.
Only a max level workspace triggers the wakeup and one is deliberately kept
allocated as the fallback every waiter waits for, so once its wakeup is
lost the writer stays in TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE until some other task happens
to return one. Re-check the pool after prepare_to_wait() has published the
waiter, and use the workspace if one turned up.