Unscored severity · published Oct 23, 2026
CVE-2026-99085
sched_ext: Fix CPU hotplug hang when a dying CPU's tasks sit in the BPF scheduler
New
–
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sched_ext: Fix CPU hotplug hang when a dying CPU's tasks sit in the BPF scheduler
A CPU going down has to empty its own rq. Its hotplug thread waits in
sched_cpu_wait_empty() until nothing else is left, and the only thing that
wakes it is balance_push(), which runs from __schedule() on the dying CPU
and pushes off the migratable tasks the CPU picks.
sched_ext breaks this. A task sitting on a user DSQ or held by the BPF
scheduler is still counted on its rq, but an inactive CPU no longer calls
ops.dispatch() and can't pull the task back. The dying CPU goes idle with
the task still counted, and one of two things happens:
- Another CPU consumes the task. The rq empties without a __schedule() on
the dying CPU, so the hotplug thread is never woken and cpu_down() hangs
holding cpu_hotplug_lock.
- The task is affine only to the dying CPU. Nothing can move it, and the
offline stalls until the watchdog ejects the BPF scheduler.
When the rq goes offline, re-enqueue every task on it that isn't already on
the local DSQ. An enqueue on an offline rq lands on the local DSQ, so the
dying CPU itself picks the tasks and balance_push() pushes them off, the
same as for the other sched classes. From then on no sched_ext path on
another CPU can pull a task off the rq.
ops.dispatch() currently stops as soon as the CPU goes inactive, and CPU
hotplug then waits for an RCU grace period before taking the rq offline. A
BPF-held task affine only to the dying CPU and preempted inside an RCU
read-side critical section would block that grace period, and the rq would
never go offline. Test SCX_RQ_ONLINE directly so that ops.dispatch() keeps
running until the rq goes offline. Only the dying CPU's own hotplug thread
clears the flag during teardown, and task_can_run_on_remote_rq() still keeps
other rqs' tasks off the CPU.
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 6% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
f0e1a0643a59bf1f922fa209cec86a170b784f3f before f79cd7a2df3768323fbfb9b0f96adff08fb7eb4c; f0e1a0643a59bf1f922fa209cec86a170b784f3f before 638ee6bca19750934ea13f9c325f46fd8ae60064; f0e1a0643a59bf1f922fa209cec86a170b784f3f before 173ff9d03ec6373c3158b6e630af33a9b36fd216; f0e1a0643a59bf1f922fa209cec86a170b784f3f before d35a535d3e3e71f92a051d94e415f43612c4edfc; 6.12 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-99085
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-99085
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/173ff9d03ec6373c3158b6e630af33a9b36fd216
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/638ee6bca19750934ea13f9c325f46fd8ae60064
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d35a535d3e3e71f92a051d94e415f43612c4edfc
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f79cd7a2df3768323fbfb9b0f96adff08fb7eb4c
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