CVE-2026-98866

sched/cache: Introduce task_struct->sched_cache_grp to fix UAF

State
Published
Severity
Not scored
Published
Oct 18, 2026
Updated
Oct 19, 2026
Reserved
Sep 25, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

Description

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().

Scores

The record has no CVSS score.

Weaknesses

The record names no weakness.

Affected Products

ProductVersions
LinuxLinux
  • df0d98475954d655571979aa061ecb07d7e00392 to before 9436130e6da72af63289a4acb3aa0c1df07a3928Affected
  • df0d98475954d655571979aa061ecb07d7e00392 to before b636fef85bda7d1bab9c0a45067ab1508d79d946Affected
LinuxLinux
  • 7.2Affected
  • before 7.2Not affected
  • 7.2.10 through 7.2.*Not affected
  • 7.3 and laterNot affected

References

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