Bug 2546526 (CVE-2026-98219)

Summary:	CVE-2026-98219 kernel: sched_ext: Close the pre-enable ops error claim window
Product:	[Other] Security Response	Reporter:	OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component:	vulnerability	Assignee:	Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status:	NEW ---	QA Contact:
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	unspecified	CC:	akhatavk, aos-team-art-private, asdas, dpaolell, jdelft, jupierce, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, rhel-process-autobot, sghai, sidsharm, suppawar, vlaad, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone:	---	Keywords:	Security
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	All
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	---
Doc Text:	A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's sched_ext subsystem. A local attacker could exploit a race condition during scheduler initialization to cause a denial of service (DoS) or potentially escalate privileges. When an error is triggered during the enablement of an extensible scheduler, the kernel fails to tear it down cleanly, resulting in a use-after-free memory corruption when the scheduler is unregistered while still in use.	Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:		Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-06 09:38:56 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sched_ext: Close the pre-enable ops error claim window

scx_alloc_and_add_sched() publishes ops->priv before
scx_root_enable_workfn() switches the state to SCX_ENABLING. An error
claimed via scx_bpf_error_bstr() from an associated BPF program in that
window is consumed by scx_disable_workfn(), which takes the pre-enable
shortcut in scx_root_disable(). The shortcut returns without any teardown
and restores SCX_DISABLED with an unconditional scx_set_enable_state() xchg
racing the enable workfn's own transition. The enable then completes with
the claim consumed: the scheduler stays up but can never be disabled again,
and bpf_scx_unreg() frees it while still in use, resulting in a
use-after-free. Both WARN_ON_ONCE()s fire back to back:

  WARNING: kernel/sched/ext/ext.c:7522 at
  scx_root_enable_workfn+0xeec/0x1be0, CPU#3: scx_enable_help/276

  WARNING: kernel/sched/ext/ext.c:6398 at scx_root_disable+0xb50/0xdb8,
  CPU#0: sched_ext_helpe/664

scx_root_enable_workfn() switches to SCX_ENABLING before the scheduler
allocation, so ops->priv is never visible while SCX_DISABLED. The allocation
failure path restores SCX_DISABLED.

Comment 1 gkamathe 2026-10-09 06:03:55 UTC

Upstream advisory:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98219.mbox