In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
arch/arm64: Fix topology initialization for core scheduling
Arm64 systems rely on store_cpu_topology() to call update_siblings_masks()
to transfer the toplogy to the various cpu masks. This needs to be done
before the call to notify_cpu_starting() which tells the scheduler about
each cpu found, otherwise the core scheduling data structures are setup
in a way that does not match the actual topology.
With smt_mask not setup correctly we bail on `cpumask_weight(smt_mask) == 1`
for !leaders in:
notify_cpu_starting()
cpuhp_invoke_callback_range()
sched_cpu_starting()
sched_core_cpu_starting()
which leads to rq->core not being correctly set for !leader-rq's.
Without this change stress-ng (which enables core scheduling in its prctl
tests in newer versions -- i.e. with PR_SCHED_CORE support) causes a warning
and then a crash (trimmed for legibility):
[ 1853.805168] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 1853.809784] task_rq(b)->core != rq->core
[ 1853.809792] WARNING: CPU: 117 PID: 0 at kernel/sched/fair.c:11102 cfs_prio_less+0x1b4/0x1c4
...
[ 1854.015210] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000010
...
[ 1854.231256] Call trace:
[ 1854.233689] pick_next_task+0x3dc/0x81c
[ 1854.237512] __schedule+0x10c/0x4cc
[ 1854.240988] schedule_idle+0x34/0x54
Publication date: Wed, 26 Feb 2025 01:54:00 +0000