CVE-2026-74594

sched/psi: Shut down rtpoll_timer in psi_cgroup_free()

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 22, 2026 at 03:31 PM UTC
Updated: October 16, 2026 at 08:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/psi: Shut down rtpoll_timer in psi_cgroup_free() psi_schedule_rtpoll_work() is called locklessly from the scheduler hotpath and can race psi_trigger_destroy() taking down the last rtpoll trigger under rtpoll_trigger_lock: psi_schedule_rtpoll_work() psi_trigger_destroy() rcu_read_lock(); task = rcu_dereference(rtpoll_task); rcu_assign_pointer(rtpoll_task, NULL); timer_delete(&rtpoll_timer); mod_timer(&rtpoll_timer, ...); rcu_read_unlock(); synchronize_rcu(); kthread_stop(task_to_destroy); The group can then be freed with the re-armed timer still pending, and poll_timer_fn() runs on freed memory. 461daba06bdc ("psi: eliminate kthread_worker from psi trigger scheduling mechanism") deleted the timer synchronously after the synchronize_rcu(), which prevented this but raced trigger creation instead: the deletion could cancel the timer that a new trigger set armed during the grace period and, as creation also reinitialized the timer at the time, corrupt it. 8f91efd870ea ("psi: Fix race between psi_trigger_create/destroy") moved the initialization into group_init() and the deletion into the locked section, trading the creation races for the window above. Neither placement in the destruction path works. A pending timer firing while the group is alive is harmless though. poll_timer_fn() just wakes the rtpoll waitqueue and doesn't re-arm itself. Bind the timer to the group's lifetime instead and shut it down in psi_cgroup_free(). Nothing can arm it by then. timer_shutdown_sync() because the timer is never armed again.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.10.505.12.175.13.25.146bfcb6178925b1fd28c102e53d403091b8f493968f91efd870ea5d8bc10b0fcc9740db51cd4c0c83979965c33f734a1666af67900408f997ac669c23e1e5e263bbe0e6e9c3db36aa48a3c8acf546fa49
Vendor states this is fixed in 1e5ca82eee59caca6988f9d6e859786aab8a5fa0 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 310b5a537a78c358a4cd244bd767c1a517a05459 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4addb102154b7cf6e2310ccbe20c3c08619e520d (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5457025fa8ca3c0d2732109513de839e3e797190 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 611e7821c4f83a671455658797336faecc3a5196 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8037c5b2b2a447df52542f4d8535895d837bdcbd (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 806fcff98c1d7cb3c1dc0015e55ebdbe819e6b08 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 894a9300d7fb2e2951da92e565ae6de7ddfb0a69 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.266 (unaffected)
Affected range stops below 5.13, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.14 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.217 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.183 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.104 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.45 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.152 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.9 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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