published October 18, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sched/cache: Introduce task_struct->sched_cache_grp to fix UAF
Add a sched_cache_grp pointer to task_struct so that scheduler code
can access the cache group directly via the task, without going
through mm->sched_cache_grp. This decouples the scheduler's hot-path
accesses from the mm_struct.
Each task holds its own refcount on the sched_cache_group, separate
from the reference held by its mm_struct. The reference is acquired
in copy_mm() (fork) and exec_mmap() (exec), and released in exit_mm().
This fixes the use-after-free when account_mm_sched() reaches the group
through a task whose mm is being switched, as reported by Hyunwoo:
https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/apPb-Dr4nPYuHQOK@v4bel/
Convert all scheduler code in fair.c and exit.c to use
p->sched_cache_grp instead of p->mm->sched_cache_grp.
Keep the fork/exec/exit reference management out of the generic mm
paths: add sched_cache_fork(), sched_cache_fork_cleanup(),
sched_cache_exec_mmap() and sched_cache_exit_mm() in
kernel/sched/cache_sched.c (with empty stubs for !CONFIG_SCHED_CACHE),
so fs/exec.c, kernel/fork.c and kernel/exit.c each call one helper
instead of open-coding the refcounting under #ifdef. Also add
sched_cache_group_get() and task_cache_group_get().