FAILED: patch "[PATCH] sched/cache: Introduce task_struct->sched_cache_grp to fix" failed to apply to 7.2-stable tree

The patch below does not apply to the 7.2-stable tree.
If someone wants it applied there, or to any other stable or longterm tree, then please email the backport, including the original git commit id to <[email protected]>.

To reproduce the conflict and resubmit, you may use the following commands:

git fetch https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/ linux-7.2.y
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
git cherry-pick -x b636fef85bda7d1bab9c0a45067ab1508d79d946
# <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.>
git commit -s
git send-email --to '<[email protected]>' --in-reply-to '2026092927-ageless-staple-093f@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 7.2.y' 'HEAD^..'

Possible dependencies:

thanks,

greg k-h

------------------ original commit in Linus's tree ------------------

From b636fef85bda7d1bab9c0a45067ab1508d79d946 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tim Chen <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2026 17:37:25 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] 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().

Fixes df0d98475954 ("sched/cache: Introduce infrastructure for cache-aware load balancing")

Closes https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/apPb-Dr4nPYuHQOK@v4bel/ open here

Closes https://lore.kernel.org/all/[email protected]/ open here

Reported-by Hyunwoo Kim <[email protected]>

Reported-by Zenghui Yu (Huawei) <[email protected]>

Co-developed-by Chen Yu <[email protected]>

Signed-off-by Chen Yu <[email protected]>

Signed-off-by Tim Chen <[email protected]>

Signed-off-by Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <[email protected]>

Signed-off-by Ingo Molnar <[email protected]>

Cc <[email protected]> #7.2.x

Link https://patch.msgid.link/ae7081dc54736bf115215f9867abb2711a7403fb.1790035273.git.tim.c.chen@linux.intel.com open here

fs/exec.c +1 -0

index 819643408e6d..a5269b5e00df 100644
@@ -882,6 +882,7 @@ static int exec_mmap(struct linux_binprm *bprm)
 	active_mm = tsk->active_mm;
 	tsk->active_mm = mm;
 	tsk->mm = mm;
+	sched_cache_exec_mmap(tsk, mm);
 	mm_init_cid(mm, tsk);
 	exec_state = task_exec_state_replace(tsk, exec_state);
 	/*

include/linux/sched.h +14 -0

index e14ad43522c8..d35ae49a991f 100644
@@ -1433,6 +1433,7 @@ struct task_struct {
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_SCHED_CACHE
 	struct callback_head		cache_work;
+	struct sched_cache_group __rcu	*sched_cache_grp;
 	int				preferred_llc;
 	/* 1: task was enqueued to its preferred LLC, 0 otherwise */
 	int				pref_llc_queued;

@@ -2417,10 +2418,23 @@ struct sched_cache_group {
 	struct rcu_head rcu;
 } ____cacheline_aligned_in_smp;
 
+struct sched_cache_group *sched_cache_group_get(struct sched_cache_group *grp);
+struct sched_cache_group *task_cache_group_get(struct task_struct *p);
+
+void sched_cache_fork(struct task_struct *p);
+void sched_cache_fork_cleanup(struct task_struct *p);
+void sched_cache_exec_mmap(struct task_struct *p, struct mm_struct *mm);
+void sched_cache_exit_mm(struct task_struct *p);
+
 #else
 
 struct sched_cache_group { };
 
+static inline void sched_cache_fork(struct task_struct *p) { }
+static inline void sched_cache_fork_cleanup(struct task_struct *p) { }
+static inline void sched_cache_exec_mmap(struct task_struct *p, struct mm_struct *mm) { }
+static inline void sched_cache_exit_mm(struct task_struct *p) { }
+
 #endif
 
 #ifndef MODULE

kernel/exit.c +1 -32

index 024350e9b48c..282328d2b4cf 100644
@@ -551,37 +551,6 @@ void mm_update_next_owner(struct mm_struct *mm)
 }
 #endif /* CONFIG_MEMCG */
 
-#if defined(CONFIG_SCHED_CACHE) && defined(CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING)
-/*
- * Subtract the memory footprint of the current task from
- * mm.
- */
-static void exit_mm_sched_cache(struct mm_struct *mm)
-{
-	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
-	unsigned long fp, sub;
-
-	if (!current->total_numa_faults)
-		return;
-	/*
-	 * No lock protection due to performance considerations.
-	 * Make sure the group footprint does not become
-	 * negative.
-	 */
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
-	if (!grp)
-		return;
-
-	fp = READ_ONCE(grp->footprint);
-	sub = min(fp, current->total_numa_faults);
-	WRITE_ONCE(grp->footprint, fp - sub);
-}
-#else
-static inline void exit_mm_sched_cache(struct mm_struct *mm)
-{
-}
-#endif /* CONFIG_SCHED_CACHE CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING */
-
 /*
  * Turn us into a lazy TLB process if we
  * aren't already..

@@ -594,7 +563,7 @@ static void exit_mm(void)
 	if (!mm)
 		return;
 
-	exit_mm_sched_cache(mm);
+	sched_cache_exit_mm(current);
 
 	mmap_read_lock(mm);
 	mmgrab_lazy_tlb(mm);

kernel/fork.c +2 -0

index 5ef413368912..10f2d05d816a 100644
@@ -1599,6 +1599,7 @@ static int copy_mm(u64 clone_flags, struct task_struct *tsk)
 
 	tsk->mm = mm;
 	tsk->active_mm = mm;
+	sched_cache_fork(tsk);
 	return 0;
 }
 

@@ -2602,6 +2603,7 @@ bad_fork_cleanup_io:
 bad_fork_cleanup_namespaces:
 	exit_nsproxy_namespaces(p);
 bad_fork_cleanup_mm:
+	sched_cache_fork_cleanup(p);
 	if (p->mm) {
 		mm_clear_owner(p->mm, p);
 		mmput(p->mm);

kernel/sched/fair.c +136 -60

index f0a9586332fd..974a7dfe3215 100644
@@ -1478,7 +1478,7 @@ static inline int get_sched_cache_scale(int mul)
 	return (1 + (tol - 1) * mul);
 }
 
-static bool exceed_llc_capacity(struct mm_struct *mm, int cpu)
+static bool exceed_llc_capacity(struct sched_cache_group *grp, int cpu)
 {
 #ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
 	unsigned long llc, footprint;

@@ -1492,11 +1492,6 @@ static bool exceed_llc_capacity(struct mm_struct *mm, int cpu)
 		return true;
 
 	if (static_branch_likely(&sched_numa_balancing)) {
-		struct sched_cache_group *grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
-
-		if (!grp)
-			return true;
-
 		/*
 		 * TBD: RDT exclusive LLC ways reserved should be
 		 * excluded.

@@ -1531,10 +1526,9 @@ static bool exceed_llc_capacity(struct mm_struct *mm, int cpu)
 	return false;
 }
 
-static bool invalid_llc_nr(struct mm_struct *mm, struct task_struct *p,
+static bool invalid_llc_nr(struct sched_cache_group *grp, struct task_struct *p,
 			   int cpu)
 {
-	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
 	int scale;
 
 	if (get_nr_threads(p) <= 1)

@@ -1548,10 +1542,6 @@ static bool invalid_llc_nr(struct mm_struct *mm, struct task_struct *p,
 	if (scale == INT_MAX)
 		return false;
 
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
-	if (!grp)
-		return true;
-
 	return !fits_capacity((READ_ONCE(grp->nr_running_avg) * cpu_smt_num_threads),
 			(scale * per_cpu(sd_llc_size, cpu)));
 }

@@ -1723,6 +1713,96 @@ static void sched_cache_group_put(struct sched_cache_group *grp)
 	call_rcu(&grp->rcu, sched_cache_group_free_rcu);
 }
 
+DEFINE_FREE(sched_cache_group_put, struct sched_cache_group *,
+	    sched_cache_group_put(_T));
+
+#define rcu_deref_sched_cache_grp(tsk) \
+	rcu_dereference_check((tsk)->sched_cache_grp, (tsk) == current)
+
+static struct sched_cache_group *sched_cache_replace_grp(struct task_struct *p,
+							 struct sched_cache_group *new)
+{
+	struct sched_cache_group *old;
+
+	old = rcu_deref_sched_cache_grp(p);
+	rcu_assign_pointer(p->sched_cache_grp, new);
+
+	return old;
+}
+
+struct sched_cache_group *sched_cache_group_get(struct sched_cache_group *grp)
+{
+	/*
+	 * refcount_inc_not_zero() is the acquire primitive for lockless
+	 * (RCU) lookups; plain refcount_inc() would scribble the count if
+	 * it already reached zero. Return NULL in that case.
+	 */
+	if (grp && !refcount_inc_not_zero(&grp->refcnt))
+		grp = NULL;
+
+	return grp;
+}
+
+struct sched_cache_group *task_cache_group_get(struct task_struct *p)
+{
+	guard(rcu)();
+	return sched_cache_group_get(rcu_dereference(p->sched_cache_grp));
+}
+
+void sched_cache_fork(struct task_struct *p)
+{
+	/*
+	 * The child takes its own reference on the mm's cache group, separate
+	 * from the reference held by the mm. @p is not yet visible to readers,
+	 * so a plain initializing store is enough.
+	 */
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(p->sched_cache_grp,
+			 sched_cache_group_get(p->mm->sched_cache_grp));
+}
+
+void sched_cache_fork_cleanup(struct task_struct *p)
+{
+	/*
+	 * A fork that fails after sched_cache_fork() never reaches exit_mm(),
+	 * so drop the reference here. @p never became visible, so there are no
+	 * concurrent readers and the reference we hold keeps the group alive.
+	 */
+	sched_cache_group_put(rcu_access_pointer(p->sched_cache_grp));
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(p->sched_cache_grp, NULL);
+}
+
+void sched_cache_exec_mmap(struct task_struct *p, struct mm_struct *mm)
+{
+	struct sched_cache_group *old;
+
+	/*
+	 * Acquire the new reference before publishing the pointer, then drop
+	 * the old one. @p is current and the only writer of its own pointer.
+	 */
+	old = sched_cache_replace_grp(p, sched_cache_group_get(mm->sched_cache_grp));
+	sched_cache_group_put(old);
+}
+
+void sched_cache_exit_mm(struct task_struct *p)
+{
+	struct sched_cache_group *grp = sched_cache_replace_grp(p, NULL);
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_NUMA_BALANCING
+	/*
+	 * Subtract this task's footprint from the group before dropping the
+	 * reference, so the group footprint converges as its threads exit.
+	 * Unlocked for performance; clamp to avoid underflow.
+	 */
+	if (grp && p->total_numa_faults) {
+		unsigned long fp = READ_ONCE(grp->footprint);
+		unsigned long sub = min(fp, p->total_numa_faults);
+
+		WRITE_ONCE(grp->footprint, fp - sub);
+	}
+#endif
+	sched_cache_group_put(grp);
+}
+
 void mm_destroy_sched(struct mm_struct *mm)
 {
 	sched_cache_group_put(mm->sched_cache_grp);

@@ -1777,15 +1857,10 @@ static unsigned long fraction_mm_sched(struct rq *rq,
 	return div64_u64(NICE_0_LOAD * pcpu_sched->runtime, rq->cpu_runtime + 1);
 }
 
-static int get_pref_llc(struct task_struct *p, struct mm_struct *mm)
+static int get_pref_llc(struct task_struct *p, struct sched_cache_group *grp)
 {
 	int mm_sched_llc = -1, mm_sched_cpu;
-	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
 
-	if (!mm)
-		return -1;
-
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
 	if (!grp)
 		return -1;
 

@@ -1819,9 +1894,8 @@ static unsigned int task_running_on_cpu(int cpu, struct task_struct *p);
 static inline
 void account_mm_sched(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, s64 delta_exec)
 {
+	struct sched_cache_group *grp = rcu_dereference_all(p->sched_cache_grp);
 	struct sched_cache_time *pcpu_sched;
-	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
-	struct mm_struct *mm = p->mm;
 	int mm_sched_llc = -1;
 	unsigned long epoch;
 

@@ -1832,12 +1906,8 @@ void account_mm_sched(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, s64 delta_exec)
 		return;
 	/*
 	 * init_task, kthreads and user thread created
-	 * by user_mode_thread() don't have mm.
+	 * by user_mode_thread() don't have a cache group.
 	 */
-	if (!mm)
-		return;
-
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
 	if (!grp || !grp->pcpu_sched)
 		return;
 

@@ -1855,13 +1925,13 @@ void account_mm_sched(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, s64 delta_exec)
 	 * its preferred state.
 	 */
 	if ((long)(epoch - READ_ONCE(grp->epoch)) > llc_epoch_affinity_timeout ||
-	    invalid_llc_nr(mm, p, cpu_of(rq)) ||
-	    exceed_llc_capacity(mm, cpu_of(rq))) {
+	    invalid_llc_nr(grp, p, cpu_of(rq)) ||
+	    exceed_llc_capacity(grp, cpu_of(rq))) {
 		if (READ_ONCE(grp->cpu) != -1)
 			WRITE_ONCE(grp->cpu, -1);
 	}
 
-	mm_sched_llc = get_pref_llc(p, mm);
+	mm_sched_llc = get_pref_llc(p, grp);
 
 	/* task not on rq accounted later in account_entity_enqueue() */
 	if (task_running_on_cpu(rq->cpu, p) &&

@@ -1874,19 +1944,15 @@ void account_mm_sched(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, s64 delta_exec)
 
 static void task_tick_cache(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p)
 {
+	struct sched_cache_group *grp = rcu_dereference_all(p->sched_cache_grp);
 	struct callback_head *work = &p->cache_work;
-	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
-	struct mm_struct *mm = p->mm;
 	unsigned long epoch;
 
 	if (!sched_cache_enabled())
 		return;
 
-	if (!mm || p->flags & PF_KTHREAD)
-		return;
-
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
-	if (!grp || !grp->pcpu_sched)
+	if (!grp || p->flags & PF_KTHREAD ||
+	    !grp->pcpu_sched)
 		return;
 
 	epoch = rq->cpu_epoch;

@@ -1968,14 +2034,13 @@ static inline void update_avg_scale(u64 *avg, u64 sample)
 
 static void task_cache_work(struct callback_head *work)
 {
+	struct sched_cache_group *grp __free(sched_cache_group_put) = NULL;
+	cpumask_var_t cpus __free(free_cpumask_var) = CPUMASK_VAR_NULL;
 	int cpu, m_a_cpu = -1, nr_running = 0, curr_cpu;
 	unsigned long next_scan, now = jiffies;
 	struct task_struct *p = current, *cur;
 	unsigned long curr_m_a_occ = 0;
-	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
-	struct mm_struct *mm = p->mm;
 	unsigned long m_a_occ = 0;
-	cpumask_var_t cpus;
 
 	WARN_ON_ONCE(work != &p->cache_work);
 

@@ -1984,7 +2049,12 @@ static void task_cache_work(struct callback_head *work)
 	if (p->flags & PF_EXITING)
 		return;
 
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
+	/*
+	 * A reference makes sure grp is not released by others. The rcu
+	 * lock can not be held till after zalloc_cpumask_var() below,
+	 * because the latter might sleep.
+	 */
+	grp = task_cache_group_get(p);
 	if (!grp)
 		return;
 

@@ -1999,8 +2069,8 @@ static void task_cache_work(struct callback_head *work)
 		return;
 
 	curr_cpu = task_cpu(p);
-	if (invalid_llc_nr(mm, p, curr_cpu) ||
-	    exceed_llc_capacity(mm, curr_cpu)) {
+	if (invalid_llc_nr(grp, p, curr_cpu) ||
+	    exceed_llc_capacity(grp, curr_cpu)) {
 		if (READ_ONCE(grp->cpu) != -1)
 			WRITE_ONCE(grp->cpu, -1);
 

@@ -2033,9 +2103,13 @@ static void task_cache_work(struct callback_head *work)
 					m_cpu = i;
 				}
 
+				/*
+				 * rcu_access_pointer() is used because the
+				 * pointer is only compared, never dereferenced.
+				 */
 				cur = rcu_dereference_all(cpu_rq(i)->curr);
 				if (cur && !(cur->flags & (PF_EXITING | PF_KTHREAD)) &&
-				    cur->mm == mm)
+				    rcu_access_pointer(cur->sched_cache_grp) == grp)
 					nr_running++;
 			}
 

@@ -2081,7 +2155,6 @@ static void task_cache_work(struct callback_head *work)
 	}
 
 	update_avg_scale(&grp->nr_running_avg, nr_running);
-	free_cpumask_var(cpus);
 }
 
 void init_sched_mm(struct task_struct *p)

@@ -2090,6 +2163,13 @@ void init_sched_mm(struct task_struct *p)
 
 	init_task_work(work, task_cache_work);
 	work->next = work;
+	/*
+	 * dup_task_struct() copies the parent's task_struct, including its
+	 * sched_cache_grp, for which the child holds no reference.  Clear it
+	 * here - before copy_mm() runs - so the child never carries a
+	 * borrowed pointer that the fork error path would put.
+	 */
+	RCU_INIT_POINTER(p->sched_cache_grp, NULL);
 	/*
 	 * Reset new task's preference to avoid
 	 * polluting account_llc_enqueue().

@@ -3890,10 +3970,9 @@ static void task_numa_placement(struct task_struct *p)
 			 * heuristic and occasional lost updates are tolerable.
 			 *
 			 * If a task exits, its corresponding footprint must
-			 * be subtracted from the mm->sched_cache_grp->footprint,
-			 * otherwise the mm->sched_cache_grp->footprint will not
-			 * converge: the exiting thread's footprint remains
-			 * unchanged/undecayed in mm->sched_cache_grp->footprint.
+			 * be subtracted from p->sched_cache_grp->footprint,
+			 * otherwise the footprint will not converge: the
+			 * exiting thread's footprint remains unchanged/undecayed.
 			 * See exit_mm().
 			 *
 			 * Lost updates and unsynchronized subtraction

@@ -3901,12 +3980,14 @@ static void task_numa_placement(struct task_struct *p)
 			 * go negative. Clamp to zero to prevent the
 			 * unsigned footprint from wrapping.
 			 */
-			grp = READ_ONCE(p->mm->sched_cache_grp);
-			if (!grp)
-				continue;
+			scoped_guard(rcu) {
+				grp = rcu_dereference(p->sched_cache_grp);
 
-			new_fp = (long)READ_ONCE(grp->footprint) + diff;
-			WRITE_ONCE(grp->footprint, max(new_fp, 0L));
+				if (grp) {
+					new_fp = (long)READ_ONCE(grp->footprint) + diff;
+					WRITE_ONCE(grp->footprint, max(new_fp, 0L));
+				}
+			}
 #endif
 		}
 

@@ -10855,7 +10936,6 @@ static enum llc_mig can_migrate_llc_task(struct lb_env *env,
 					 struct task_struct *p)
 {
 	struct sched_cache_group *grp;
-	struct mm_struct *mm;
 	bool to_pref;
 	int cpu, src_cpu, dst_cpu;
 

@@ -10864,11 +10944,7 @@ static enum llc_mig can_migrate_llc_task(struct lb_env *env,
 
 	src_cpu = env->src_cpu;
 	dst_cpu = env->dst_cpu;
-	mm = p->mm;
-	if (!mm)
-		return mig_unrestricted;
-
-	grp = READ_ONCE(mm->sched_cache_grp);
+	grp = rcu_dereference_all(p->sched_cache_grp);
 	if (!grp)
 		return mig_unrestricted;
 

@@ -10877,8 +10953,8 @@ static enum llc_mig can_migrate_llc_task(struct lb_env *env,
 		return mig_unrestricted;
 
 	/* skip cache aware load balance for too many threads */
-	if (invalid_llc_nr(mm, p, dst_cpu) ||
-	    exceed_llc_capacity(mm, dst_cpu)) {
+	if (invalid_llc_nr(grp, p, dst_cpu) ||
+	    exceed_llc_capacity(grp, dst_cpu)) {
 		if (READ_ONCE(grp->cpu) != -1)
 			WRITE_ONCE(grp->cpu, -1);
 		return mig_unrestricted;

Quoted 14 lines · On Tue, 2026-09-29 at 13:43 +0200, [email protected] wrote:

The patch below does not apply to the 7.2-stable tree.
If someone wants it applied there, or to any other stable or longterm tree, then please email the backport, including the original git commit id to <[email protected]>.

To reproduce the conflict and resubmit, you may use the following commands:

git fetch https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/ linux-7.2.y
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
git cherry-pick -x b636fef85bda7d1bab9c0a45067ab1508d79d946
# <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.>
git commit -s
git send-email --to '<[email protected]>' --in-reply-to '2026092927-ageless-staple-093f@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 7.2.y' 'HEAD^..'

Quoted 2 lines

Possible dependencies:

These patches in upstream needs to be applied first before this patch:
f0d243a96f268 sched/fair: Avoid creating misfits during cache-aware balancing (should be included in stable)

28f9c0e0a0b94 sched/cache: Decouple sched_cache_group from mm to fix UAF (just merged in stable)