[PATCH v3] perf/core: Fix pending work re-queued in __perf_event_overflow

From: Liangyan

Date: Thu Nov 13 2025 - 22:34:18 EST


We got warning below during perf test.
[ 467.100914] [ T1] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 1 at kernel/events/core.c:5147 put_pmu_ctx+0x2ef/0x3c0
[ 467.107702] [ T1] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 1 Comm: systemd Kdump: loaded Tainted: G E 6.18.0-rc4-dirty #114 PREEMPT(voluntary)
[ 467.109835] [ T1] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1
[ 467.111027] [ T1] RIP: 0010:put_pmu_ctx+0x2ef/0x3c0
[ 467.122081] [ T1] Call Trace:
[ 467.122463] [ T1] <TASK>
[ 467.124822] [ T1] __free_event+0x337/0xa50
[ 467.125306] [ T1] perf_pending_task+0x10f/0x3b0
[ 467.125824] [ T1] task_work_run+0x140/0x210
[ 467.127413] [ T1] exit_to_user_mode_loop+0x10e/0x130
[ 467.127965] [ T1] do_syscall_64+0x26d/0x2e0
[ 467.128453] [ T1] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e
[ 467.129025] [ T1] RIP: 0033:0x7f01d22349ca
[ 467.135157] [ T1] </TASK>

A race condition occurs between task context and IRQ context when
handling sigtrap tracepoint event overflows:

1. In task context, an event is overflowed and its pending work is
queued to task->task_works
2. Before pending_work is set, the same event overflows in IRQ context
3. Both contexts queue the same perf pending work to task->task_works

This double queuing causes:
- task_work_run() enters infinite loop calling perf_pending_task()
- Potential warnings and use-after-free when event is freed in
perf_pending_task()

Fix the race by disabling interrupts during queuing of perf pending work.

Fixes: c5d93d23a260 ("perf: Enqueue SIGTRAP always via task_work.")
Reported-by: Xianjun Zeng <zengxianjun@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Liangyan <liangyan.peng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
v3: Refine commit log suggested by Sebastian.
---
kernel/events/core.c | 10 ++++++++++
1 file changed, 10 insertions(+)

diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index cae921f4d137..7c63e5fdd334 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -10433,6 +10433,16 @@ static int __perf_event_overflow(struct perf_event *event,

notify_mode = in_nmi() ? TWA_NMI_CURRENT : TWA_RESUME;

+ /*
+ * Task context queues the work via task_work_add() but has not yet
+ * set event->pending_work when the same event overflows in
+ * IRQ context. The IRQ path, seeing !event->pending_work,
+ * queues the work again.
+ * The double queuing causes corruption in task->task_works.
+ * Prevent this by disabling interrupts around the critical section.
+ */
+ guard(irqsave)();
+
if (!event->pending_work &&
!task_work_add(current, &event->pending_task, notify_mode)) {
event->pending_work = pending_id;
--
2.39.3 (Apple Git-145)