[PATCH] sched_ext: Pin parent scx_sched across a child sub-scheduler's lifetime
From: Tejun Heo
Date: Thu Jun 25 2026 - 19:24:06 EST
A child sub-scheduler dereferences its parent scx_sched throughout its life,
e.g., in scx_sub_disable() which reparents the child's tasks and calls
parent->ops.sub_detach() after unlinking from the parent. However, the
parent is pinned only through parent->sub_kset, which is dropped during
disable. The parent scx_sched can be RCU-freed while a child is still
disabling.
Take a direct reference on the parent in scx_alloc_and_add_sched(), dropped
in scx_sched_free_rcu_work(), so a parent always outlives its descendants.
Signed-off-by: Tejun Heo <tj@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/sched/ext/ext.c | 13 +++++++++++--
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
index aecbb021d6d7..3b2e13bc924b 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
@@ -4916,6 +4916,8 @@ static void scx_sched_free_rcu_work(struct work_struct *work)
cgroup_put(sch_cgroup(sch));
if (sch->sub_kset)
kobject_put(&sch->sub_kset->kobj);
+ if (scx_parent(sch))
+ kobject_put(&scx_parent(sch)->kobj);
#endif /* CONFIG_EXT_SUB_SCHED */
for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
@@ -6863,12 +6865,19 @@ static struct scx_sched *scx_alloc_and_add_sched(struct scx_enable_cmd *cmd,
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&sch->children);
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&sch->sibling);
- if (parent)
+ if (parent) {
+ /*
+ * Pin @parent for @sch's lifetime. The kobject hierarchy pins
+ * it only via @parent->sub_kset, which is dropped during
+ * disable. Released in scx_sched_free_rcu_work().
+ */
+ kobject_get(&parent->kobj);
ret = kobject_init_and_add(&sch->kobj, &scx_ktype,
&parent->sub_kset->kobj,
"sub-%llu", cgroup_id(cgrp));
- else
+ } else {
ret = kobject_init_and_add(&sch->kobj, &scx_ktype, NULL, "root");
+ }
if (ret < 0) {
RCU_INIT_POINTER(ops->priv, NULL);
--
2.54.0