[PATCH] rcu: Add BOOTPARAM_RCU_STALL_PANIC Kconfig option

From: Gustavo Luiz Duarte

Date: Fri Mar 13 2026 - 13:11:47 EST


Add a Kconfig option to set the default value of the
kernel.panic_on_rcu_stall sysctl, allowing the kernel to be built
with panic-on-RCU-stall enabled by default.

This is useful for high-availability systems that require automatic
recovery (via panic_timeout) when a CPU stall is detected, without
needing userspace to configure the sysctl at boot.

This follows the pattern established by BOOTPARAM_SOFTLOCKUP_PANIC
and BOOTPARAM_HUNG_TASK_PANIC. The runtime sysctl can still override
the Kconfig default.

Signed-off-by: Gustavo Luiz Duarte <gustavold@xxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/rcu/Kconfig.debug | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
kernel/rcu/tree_stall.h | 2 +-
2 files changed, 25 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/rcu/Kconfig.debug b/kernel/rcu/Kconfig.debug
index 625d75392647..fc2c775eeefc 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/kernel/rcu/Kconfig.debug
@@ -175,6 +175,30 @@ config RCU_CPU_STALL_NOTIFIER
Say Y here if you want RCU CPU stall notifiers (you don't want them)
Say N if you are unsure.

+config BOOTPARAM_RCU_STALL_PANIC
+ bool "Panic (reboot) on RCU CPU stall"
+ depends on RCU_STALL_COMMON
+ default n
+ help
+ Say Y here to enable the kernel to panic when an RCU CPU stall
+ is detected.
+
+ The panic can be used in combination with panic_timeout,
+ to cause the system to reboot automatically after an
+ RCU CPU stall has been detected. This feature is useful for
+ high-availability systems that have uptime guarantees and
+ where a CPU stall must be resolved ASAP.
+
+ The kernel.max_rcu_stall_to_panic sysctl can be used to set
+ a minimum number of stalls before panicking, allowing the
+ system to tolerate a given number of RCU CPU stalls before
+ triggering a panic.
+
+ This setting can be overridden at runtime via the
+ kernel.panic_on_rcu_stall sysctl parameter.
+
+ Say N if unsure.
+
config RCU_TRACE
bool "Enable tracing for RCU"
depends on DEBUG_KERNEL
diff --git a/kernel/rcu/tree_stall.h b/kernel/rcu/tree_stall.h
index b67532cb8770..43ddabf46b5e 100644
--- a/kernel/rcu/tree_stall.h
+++ b/kernel/rcu/tree_stall.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
// Controlling CPU stall warnings, including delay calculation.

/* panic() on RCU Stall sysctl. */
-static int sysctl_panic_on_rcu_stall __read_mostly;
+static int sysctl_panic_on_rcu_stall __read_mostly = IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_BOOTPARAM_RCU_STALL_PANIC);
static int sysctl_max_rcu_stall_to_panic __read_mostly;

static const struct ctl_table rcu_stall_sysctl_table[] = {

---
base-commit: 1f318b96cc84d7c2ab792fcc0bfd42a7ca890681
change-id: 20260313-panic_on_rcustall-95709d1abf2f

Best regards,
--
Gustavo Luiz Duarte <gustavold@xxxxxxxxx>