Bug 2481981 (CVE-2026-45919)

Summary: CVE-2026-45919 kernel: sched/rt: Skip currently executing CPU in rto_next_cpu()
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
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Priority: low    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's real-time (RT) scheduler. Under specific heavy load conditions, a vulnerability in the rto_next_cpu() function can cause a CPU to repeatedly interrupt itself. This leads to a CPU hardlockup, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) for the system. This issue can be triggered by a local user or specific system workloads.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-05-27 15:05:28 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sched/rt: Skip currently executing CPU in rto_next_cpu()

CPU0 becomes overloaded when hosting a CPU-bound RT task, a non-CPU-bound
RT task, and a CFS task stuck in kernel space. When other CPUs switch from
RT to non-RT tasks, RT load balancing (LB) is triggered; with
HAVE_RT_PUSH_IPI enabled, they send IPIs to CPU0 to drive the execution
of rto_push_irq_work_func. During push_rt_task on CPU0,
if next_task->prio < rq->donor->prio, resched_curr() sets NEED_RESCHED
and after the push operation completes, CPU0 calls rto_next_cpu().
Since only CPU0 is overloaded in this scenario, rto_next_cpu() should
ideally return -1 (no further IPI needed).

However, multiple CPUs invoking tell_cpu_to_push() during LB increments
rd->rto_loop_next. Even when rd->rto_cpu is set to -1, the mismatch between
rd->rto_loop and rd->rto_loop_next forces rto_next_cpu() to restart its
search from -1. With CPU0 remaining overloaded (satisfying rt_nr_migratory
&& rt_nr_total > 1), it gets reselected, causing CPU0 to queue irq_work to
itself and send self-IPIs repeatedly. As long as CPU0 stays overloaded and
other CPUs run pull_rt_tasks(), it falls into an infinite self-IPI loop,
which triggers a CPU hardlockup due to continuous self-interrupts.

The trigging scenario is as follows:

         cpu0                      cpu1                    cpu2
                                pull_rt_task
                              tell_cpu_to_push
                 <------------irq_work_queue_on
rto_push_irq_work_func
       push_rt_task
    resched_curr(rq)                                   pull_rt_task
    rto_next_cpu                                     tell_cpu_to_push
                      <-------------------------- atomic_inc(rto_loop_next)
rd->rto_loop != next
     rto_next_cpu
   irq_work_queue_on
rto_push_irq_work_func

Fix redundant self-IPI by filtering the initiating CPU in rto_next_cpu().
This solution has been verified to effectively eliminate spurious self-IPIs
and prevent CPU hardlockup scenarios.