sched/psi: fix race between file release and pressure write
CVE-2026-52991 · published 24 Jun 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 7.8 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-52991?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 0e94682b73bfa6c44c98af7a26771c9c08c055d5 to < d8ddbc3330fa6851c56b046e630a8fc64830a0ce, 0e94682b73bfa6c44c98af7a26771c9c08c055d5 to < af0638534bfae7980582c6482531a0872f8ee341, 0e94682b73bfa6c44c98af7a26771c9c08c055d5 to < 03dc070fa0fc3cb4068693f468ccd5f8a7e58282, 0e94682b73bfa6c44c98af7a26771c9c08c055d5 to < d4352c0709bfd38c752fccbde7fd72a82ac78f23
- Linux Linux: 5.2
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
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- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sched/psi: fix race between file release and pressure write
A potential race condition exists between pressure write and cgroup file
release regarding the priv member of struct kernfs_open_file, which
triggers the uaf reported in [1].
Consider the following scenario involving execution on two separate CPUs:
CPU0 CPU1
==== ====
vfs_rmdir()
kernfs_iop_rmdir()
cgroup_rmdir()
cgroup_kn_lock_live()
cgroup_destroy_locked()
cgroup_addrm_files()
cgroup_rm_file()
kernfs_remove_by_name()
kernfs_remove_by_name_ns()
vfs_write() __kernfs_remove()
new_sync_write() kernfs_drain()
kernfs_fop_write_iter() kernfs_drain_open_files()
cgroup_file_write() kernfs_release_file()
pressure_write() cgroup_file_release()
ctx = of->priv;
kfree(ctx);
of->priv = NULL;
cgroup_kn_unlock()
cgroup_kn_lock_live()
cgroup_get(cgrp)
cgroup_kn_unlock()
if (ctx->psi.trigger) // here, trigger uaf for ctx, that is of->priv
The cgroup_rmdir() is protected by the cgroup_mutex, it also safeguards
the memory deallocation of of->priv performed within cgroup_file_release().
However, the operations involving of->priv executed within pressure_write()
are not entirely covered by the protection of cgroup_mutex. Consequently,
if the code in pressure_write(), specifically the section handling the
ctx variable executes after cgroup_file_release() has completed, a uaf
vulnerability involving of->priv is triggered.
Therefore, the issue can be resolved by extending the scope of the
cgroup_mutex lock within pressure_write() to encompass all code paths
involving of->priv, thereby properly synchronizing the race condition
occurring between cgroup_file_release() and pressure_write().
And, if an live kn lock can be successfully acquired while executing
the pressure write operation, it indicates that the cgroup deletion
process has not yet reached its final stage; consequently, the priv
pointer within open_file cannot be NULL. Therefore, the operation to
retrieve the ctx value must be moved to a point *after* the live kn
lock has been successfully acquired.
In another situation, specifically after entering cgroup_kn_lock_live()
but before acquiring cgroup_mutex, there exists a different class of
race condition:
CPU0: write memory.pressure CPU1: write cgroup.pressure=0
=========================== =============================
kernfs_fop_write_iter()
kernfs_get_active_of(of)
pressure_write()
cgroup_kn_lock_live(memory.pressure)
cgroup_tryget(cgrp)
kernfs_break_active_protection(kn)
... blocks on cgroup_mutex
cgroup_pressure_write()
cgroup_kn_lock_live(cgroup.pressure)
cgroup_file_show(memory.pressure, false)
kernfs_show(false)
kernfs_drain_open_files()
cgroup_file_release(of)
kfree(ctx)
of->priv = NULL
cgroup_kn_unlock()
... acquires cgroup_mutex
ctx = of->priv; // may now be NULL
if (ctx->psi.trigger) // NULL dereference
Consequently, there is a possibility that of->priv is NULL, the pressure
write needs to check for this.
Now that the scope of the cgroup_mutex has been expanded, the original
explicit cgroup_get/put operations are no longer necessary, this is
because acquiring/releasing the live kn lock inherently executes a
cgroup get/put operation.
[1]
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in pressure_write+0xa4/0x210 kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c:4011
Call Trace:
pressure_write+0xa4/0x210 kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c:4011
cgroup_file_write+0x36f/0x790 kernel/cgroup/cgroup.c:43
---truncated---
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References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d8ddbc3330fa6851c56b046e630a8fc64830a0ce
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/af0638534bfae7980582c6482531a0872f8ee341
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/03dc070fa0fc3cb4068693f468ccd5f8a7e58282
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/d4352c0709bfd38c752fccbde7fd72a82ac78f23
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a5b98009f16d8a5fb4a8ff9a193f5735515c38fa
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON