CVE-2026-74731 (GCVE-0-2026-74731)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-08-22 15:33
Modified
2026-08-25 05:42
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched_ext: Skip sub-disable teardown for never-linked sub-schedulers A sub-scheduler enable can fail before scx_link_sched() links the sched into the hierarchy, e.g. when the parent is already being disabled, and cleanup still runs the full scx_sub_disable(). That is racy against root disable: drain_descendants() is the only ordering between a sub's disable-time task walk and root disable's all-task teardown, and an unlinked sub is invisible to it. Root's teardown can thus run between the never-linked sub's drain and its walk, exiting every task to no scheduler. The walk then trips the membership WARN and re-homes the exited tasks onto the dying hierarchy, a use-after-free. Skip the cgroup ownership reset and the task walk if @sch was never linked, indicated by the empty ->sibling as unlinking only happens later in the same function. The membership WARN remains valid: a linked sub is always waited on by an ancestor's drain.
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Version: 337ec00b1d9c676f637651c2cefddb8612b867ee
Version: 337ec00b1d9c676f637651c2cefddb8612b867ee
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/sched/ext/ext.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "6428093a4a986c38c9089b5eb32b56d914ef437a",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "337ec00b1d9c676f637651c2cefddb8612b867ee",
              "versionType": "git"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "8c13364db9c9a43ed286f3a8d0fb9477b1adc43c",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "337ec00b1d9c676f637651c2cefddb8612b867ee",
              "versionType": "git"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "defaultStatus": "affected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/sched/ext/ext.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "7.1"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "7.1",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.1.9",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
        {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.1.9",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "7.1",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "7.2",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "7.1",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsched_ext: Skip sub-disable teardown for never-linked sub-schedulers\n\nA sub-scheduler enable can fail before scx_link_sched() links the sched into\nthe hierarchy, e.g. when the parent is already being disabled, and cleanup\nstill runs the full scx_sub_disable().\n\nThat is racy against root disable: drain_descendants() is the only ordering\nbetween a sub\u0027s disable-time task walk and root disable\u0027s all-task teardown,\nand an unlinked sub is invisible to it. Root\u0027s teardown can thus run between\nthe never-linked sub\u0027s drain and its walk, exiting every task to no\nscheduler.\n\nThe walk then trips the membership WARN and re-homes the exited tasks onto\nthe dying hierarchy, a use-after-free.\n\nSkip the cgroup ownership reset and the task walk if @sch was never linked,\nindicated by the empty -\u003esibling as unlinking only happens later in the same\nfunction. The membership WARN remains valid: a linked sub is always waited\non by an ancestor\u0027s drain."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 7.8,
            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "AV:L - The bug is reached only via local bpf(2) syscalls (BPF_MAP_CREATE/UPDATE_ELEM, BPF_PROG_LOAD, BPF_LINK_CREATE) that register sched_ext_ops struct_ops and invoke scx_enable()/scx_sub_enable_workfn(); per kernel CNA guidance BPF/sched_ext is Local, not network-reachable.\nAC:L - The attacker controls both sides of the race by concurrently attaching a sub-scheduler and closing the root BPF link to trigger scx_root_disable() while never-linked sub cleanup runs scx_sub_disable(); repeated attempts can reliably hit the window between drain_descendants() and the task walk.\nPR:L - Exploitation requires CAP_BPF to create BPF_MAP_TYPE_STRUCT_OPS, load BPF_PROG_TYPE_STRUCT_OPS, and BPF_LINK_CREATE sched_ext; per kernel guidance this is Low because CAP_BPF is obtainable via user namespaces/BPF tokens, not init-namespace root only.\nUI:N - No victim interaction is required; the attacker loads root and sub BPF schedulers, targets their cgroup, and closes BPF links from their own processes to orchestrate the concurrent enable-failure and teardown race.\nS:U - The use-after-free corrupts kernel scheduler/task state during sched_ext teardown on the same host kernel; this is standard kernel memory corruption and privilege escalation impact, not a VM escape or cross-security-authority boundary.\nC:H - Failed never-linked sub cleanup re-homes tasks onto a dying scx_sched hierarchy after root disable frees scheduler state; this use-after-free on scheduler/task metadata can be leveraged for arbitrary kernel memory disclosure per kernel UAF guidance.\nI:H - The UAF during scx_set_task_sched()/scx_enable_task() on a freed scx_sched corrupts scheduler pointers and task ownership in the system-wide scheduler path, enabling heap corruption and arbitrary kernel write or code execution primitives.\nA:H - The race re-homes tasks onto a tearing-down sched_ext hierarchy, tripping membership WARNs and corrupting scheduler teardown; this causes kernel oops/panic/hang on a system-wide scheduler subsystem, which is High availability impact per kernel guidance."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-25T05:42:10.750Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6428093a4a986c38c9089b5eb32b56d914ef437a"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8c13364db9c9a43ed286f3a8d0fb9477b1adc43c"
        }
      ],
      "title": "sched_ext: Skip sub-disable teardown for never-linked sub-schedulers",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-74731",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-22T15:33:20.294Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-15T05:44:03.930Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-25T05:42:10.750Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}


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