[PATCH] sched/fair: Restore RCU read lock in set_cpu_sd_state_{busy,idle}()

From: Andrea Righi

Date: Thu May 21 2026 - 16:51:46 EST


Commit c9d93a73ce87 ("sched/fair: Drop redundant RCU read lock in NOHZ
kick path") removed the rcu_read_lock()/unlock() pair from
set_cpu_sd_state_busy() and set_cpu_sd_state_idle() on the assumption
that all callers run in a safe context for rcu_dereference_all(): IRQs
disabled or cpus_write_lock() held.

That assumption is wrong for the CPU hotplug teardown path. When CPUs
are taken offline, set_cpu_sd_state_busy() is invoked via:

cpuhp/N kthread
cpuhp_thread_fun()
cpuhp_invoke_callback()
sched_cpu_deactivate()
nohz_balance_exit_idle()
set_cpu_sd_state_busy()
rcu_dereference_all(per_cpu(sd_llc, cpu))

The cpuhp kthread holds cpu_hotplug_lock (percpu-rwsem) but runs with
preemption and IRQs enabled. As a result, lockdep correctly reports a
suspicious RCU usage on CPU offline, e.g.:

# echo 0 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/online

=============================
WARNING: suspicious RCU usage
-----------------------------
kernel/sched/fair.c:12793 suspicious rcu_dereference_check() usage!
...
2 locks held by cpuhp/1/20:
#0: (cpu_hotplug_lock){++++}-{0:0}, at: cpuhp_thread_fun+0x42/0x1ae
#1: (cpuhp_state-down){+.+.}-{0:0}, at: cpuhp_thread_fun+0x72/0x1ae

Call Trace:
lockdep_rcu_suspicious
nohz_balance_exit_idle
sched_cpu_deactivate
cpuhp_invoke_callback
cpuhp_thread_fun
smpboot_thread_fn

Restore the rcu_read_lock()/unlock() pair in both helpers;
nohz_balancer_kick() is left as is, since its IRQ-disabled context is
genuinely sufficient.

Fixes: c9d93a73ce87 ("sched/fair: Drop redundant RCU read lock in NOHZ kick path")
Reported-by: Marek Szyprowski <m.szyprowski@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/38fe0a1d-1a48-435a-910a-c278024d9ac9@xxxxxxxxxxx/
Signed-off-by: Andrea Righi <arighi@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/sched/fair.c | 12 ++++++++++--
1 file changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
index aac24cfddecdf..381f378db71fa 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
@@ -14070,6 +14070,8 @@ static void nohz_balancer_kick(struct rq *rq)
static void set_cpu_sd_state_busy(int cpu)
{
struct sched_domain *sd;
+
+ rcu_read_lock();
sd = rcu_dereference_all(per_cpu(sd_llc, cpu));

/*
@@ -14077,10 +14079,12 @@ static void set_cpu_sd_state_busy(int cpu)
* domain has no shared object there is nothing to clear or account.
*/
if (!sd || !sd->shared || !sd->nohz_idle)
- return;
+ goto unlock;
sd->nohz_idle = 0;

atomic_inc(&sd->shared->nr_busy_cpus);
+unlock:
+ rcu_read_unlock();
}

void nohz_balance_exit_idle(struct rq *rq)
@@ -14099,14 +14103,18 @@ void nohz_balance_exit_idle(struct rq *rq)
static void set_cpu_sd_state_idle(int cpu)
{
struct sched_domain *sd;
+
+ rcu_read_lock();
sd = rcu_dereference_all(per_cpu(sd_llc, cpu));

/* See set_cpu_sd_state_busy(): nohz_idle is only used with sd->shared. */
if (!sd || !sd->shared || sd->nohz_idle)
- return;
+ goto unlock;
sd->nohz_idle = 1;

atomic_dec(&sd->shared->nr_busy_cpus);
+unlock:
+ rcu_read_unlock();
}

/*

base-commit: b07a332d9cbbd9cc9cfa923a21bd061cfb69bea5
--
2.54.0