[PATCH sched_ext/for-7.3-fixes] sched_ext: Generate qseq from a per-task counter

From: Kuba Piecuch

Date: Fri Oct 02 2026 - 16:53:17 EST


finish_dispatch() uses the qseq embedded in p->scx.ops_state to tell
whether the QUEUED instance of a task it's about to claim is the one
scx_bpf_dsq_insert() saw. qseq is generated from rq->scx.ops_qseq, but
the counters of different rqs are independent, so if a task is dequeued
and re-enqueued on a different rq between scx_bpf_dsq_insert() and
finish_dispatch(), the new QUEUED instance can end up with the same
qseq as the old one:

CPU X CPU Z
----- -----
enqueue p on rq A, qseq = N
ops.dispatch()
scx_bpf_dsq_insert(p)
records qseq N
sched_setaffinity(p)
dequeue p from rq A
enqueue p on rq B, qseq = N
finish_dispatch(p, N)
qseq matches, p is claimed

The claim itself is still atomic so the core stays consistent, but an
insert issued for a previous QUEUED instance gets applied to a new one
which the BPF scheduler has just received through ops.enqueue(). This
breaks the guarantee that dispatches targeting a stale instance are
ignored.

Generate qseq from a per-task counter, p->scx.ops_qseq, instead so that
consecutive QUEUED instances of a task never share a qseq regardless of
which rq they're on. The counter is only updated in
scx_do_enqueue_task() with the task's rq locked, so no additional
synchronization is needed. It's 32 bits so that it fits in an existing
hole in struct sched_ext_entity on 64bit.

Never generate qseq 0. NONE and DISPATCHING don't carry a qseq, so
scx_bpf_dsq_insert() on a task in either state records 0. With a
per-task counter, every task's first QUEUED instance would otherwise get
qseq 0 and could be claimed by such an insert.

Remove the now unused rq->scx.ops_qseq.

Fixes: f0e1a0643a59 ("sched_ext: Implement BPF extensible scheduler class")
Assisted-by: Claude:claude-opus-5.5
Signed-off-by: Kuba Piecuch <jpiecuch@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/sched/ext.h | 1 +
kernel/sched/ext/ext.c | 15 +++++++++++----
kernel/sched/ext/internal.h | 5 +++++
kernel/sched/sched.h | 1 -
4 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/sched/ext.h b/include/linux/sched/ext.h
index 582d7cd4a983..36c04797436c 100644
--- a/include/linux/sched/ext.h
+++ b/include/linux/sched/ext.h
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ struct sched_ext_entity {
s32 holding_cpu;
s32 selected_cpu;
s32 runnable_cpu; /* cpu @p is runnable on, -1 if not */
+ u32 ops_qseq; /* protected by rq lock */
struct task_struct *kf_tasks[2]; /* see SCX_CALL_OP_TASK() */

struct list_head runnable_node; /* rq->scx.runnable_list */
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
index e56c3c95018f..7733b4a0f984 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
@@ -2057,8 +2057,15 @@ void scx_do_enqueue_task(struct rq *rq, struct task_struct *p, u64 enq_flags,
if (unlikely(!SCX_HAS_OP(sch, enqueue)))
goto global;

- /* DSQ bypass didn't trigger, enqueue on the BPF scheduler */
- qseq = rq->scx.ops_qseq++ << SCX_OPSS_QSEQ_SHIFT;
+ /*
+ * DSQ bypass didn't trigger, enqueue on the BPF scheduler. Brand this
+ * QUEUED instance with a fresh per-task qseq. Skip 0 as that's what
+ * scx_bpf_dsq_insert() records for a task in NONE or DISPATCHING.
+ */
+ do {
+ p->scx.ops_qseq++;
+ qseq = (unsigned long)p->scx.ops_qseq << SCX_OPSS_QSEQ_SHIFT;
+ } while (unlikely(!qseq));

WARN_ON_ONCE(atomic_long_read(&p->scx.ops_state) != SCX_OPSS_NONE);
atomic_long_set(&p->scx.ops_state, SCX_OPSS_QUEUEING | qseq);
@@ -6947,9 +6954,9 @@ static void scx_dump_cpu(struct scx_sched *sch, struct seq_buf *s,
seq_buf_init(&ns, buf, avail);

dump_newline(&ns);
- scx_dump_line(&ns, "CPU %-4d: nr_run=%u flags=0x%x cpu_rel=%d ops_qseq=%lu ksync=%lu",
+ scx_dump_line(&ns, "CPU %-4d: nr_run=%u flags=0x%x cpu_rel=%d ksync=%lu",
cpu, rq->scx.nr_running, rq->scx.flags, rq->scx.cpu_released,
- rq->scx.ops_qseq, rq->scx.kick_sync);
+ rq->scx.kick_sync);
scx_rescue_dump(&ns, rq);
scx_dump_line(&ns, " curr=%s[%d] class=%ps",
rq->curr->comm, rq->curr->pid, rq->curr->sched_class);
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/internal.h b/kernel/sched/ext/internal.h
index 1df8f583b0ec..5b37faa532d6 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/internal.h
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/internal.h
@@ -1998,6 +1998,11 @@ enum scx_ops_state {
* dequeue/requeue, the dispatcher can tell whether it still has a claim
* on the task being dispatched.
*
+ * QSEQ is generated from the per-task p->scx.ops_qseq counter so that
+ * it doesn't repeat across QUEUED instances of the same task even if
+ * the task moves between rqs. 0 is never used as a valid QSEQ since
+ * NONE and DISPATCHING map to this value.
+ *
* As some 32bit archs can't do 64bit store_release/load_acquire,
* p->scx.ops_state is atomic_long_t which leaves 30 bits for QSEQ on
* 32bit machines. The dispatch race window QSEQ protects is very narrow
diff --git a/kernel/sched/sched.h b/kernel/sched/sched.h
index e656c7059bf8..37df14377516 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/sched.h
+++ b/kernel/sched/sched.h
@@ -816,7 +816,6 @@ struct scx_rq {
#endif
struct list_head runnable_list; /* runnable tasks on this rq */
struct list_head ddsp_deferred_locals; /* deferred ddsps from enq */
- unsigned long ops_qseq;
/* both stashed across the activate_task() in move_remote_task_to_local_dsq() */
u64 remote_activate_enq_flags;
struct scx_sched *remote_activate_sch;
--
2.56.0.rc1.315.gc6ed9934b7-goog