[PATCH 03/11] sched_ext: Block proxy donors across scheduler transitions

From: Andrea Righi

Date: Thu Jul 16 2026 - 09:28:44 EST


Proxy execution retains mutex-blocked donors on the runqueue so their
scheduling context can execute a lock owner. sched_ext cannot safely
retain such donors unless the BPF scheduler explicitly participates in
their admission and ordering.

Make sched_ext reject retained donors by default. Force blocked EXT
tasks through the regular block path in schedule(), and fully deactivate
a retained donor before sched_setscheduler(), PI de-boosting, or global
activation moves it into the EXT class. These hooks establish the safe
default that a later opt-in can relax.

This is a preparatory change to support proxy execution with sched_ext.

Signed-off-by: Andrea Righi <arighi@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/sched/core.c | 5 ++++-
kernel/sched/ext/ext.c | 44 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
kernel/sched/ext/ext.h | 6 ++++++
kernel/sched/syscalls.c | 3 +++
4 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/sched/core.c b/kernel/sched/core.c
index e7827cffc2f0c..ddc832035854b 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/core.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/core.c
@@ -7173,7 +7173,8 @@ static void __sched notrace __schedule(int sched_mode)
* task_is_blocked() will always be false).
*/
try_to_block_task(rq, prev, &prev_state,
- !task_is_blocked(prev));
+ !task_is_blocked(prev) ||
+ !scx_allow_proxy_exec(prev));
switch_count = &prev->nvcsw;
}

@@ -7726,6 +7727,8 @@ void rt_mutex_setprio(struct task_struct *p, struct task_struct *pi_task)
if (prev_class != next_class)
queue_flag |= DEQUEUE_CLASS;

+ scx_prepare_setscheduler(p, next_class);
+
scoped_guard (sched_change, p, queue_flag) {
/*
* Boosting condition are:
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
index b3b8cf95e0f7a..cd43283e54d8d 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.c
@@ -24,6 +24,46 @@

DEFINE_RAW_SPINLOCK(scx_sched_lock);

+bool scx_allow_proxy_exec(const struct task_struct *p)
+{
+ return p->sched_class != &ext_sched_class;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Called after sched_setscheduler() validation and immediately before
+ * sched_change_begin(), with @p's pi and rq locks held.
+ */
+void scx_prepare_setscheduler(struct task_struct *p,
+ const struct sched_class *next_class)
+{
+ lockdep_assert_held(&p->pi_lock);
+ lockdep_assert_rq_held(task_rq(p));
+
+ /*
+ * Retained proxy donors need admission only when entering EXT. A PI
+ * boost moves an EXT task to RT/DL and may keep it queued; the matching
+ * de-boost moves it back to EXT and therefore falls through below.
+ */
+ if (p->sched_class == next_class || next_class != &ext_sched_class)
+ return;
+
+ sched_proxy_block_task(task_rq(p), p);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Called with @p's pi and rq locks held immediately before
+ * sched_change_begin(). The caller must pass DEQUEUE_NOCLOCK so the rq clock
+ * is updated only once.
+ */
+static void scx_prepare_task_sched_change(struct task_struct *p)
+{
+ lockdep_assert_held(&p->pi_lock);
+ lockdep_assert_rq_held(task_rq(p));
+
+ update_rq_clock(task_rq(p));
+ sched_proxy_block_task(task_rq(p), p);
+}
+
/*
* NOTE: sched_ext is in the process of growing multiple scheduler support and
* scx_root usage is in a transitional state. Naked dereferences are safe if the
@@ -7303,6 +7343,10 @@ static void scx_root_enable_workfn(struct kthread_work *work)

if (old_class != new_class)
queue_flags |= DEQUEUE_CLASS;
+ if (new_class == &ext_sched_class) {
+ scx_prepare_task_sched_change(p);
+ queue_flags |= DEQUEUE_NOCLOCK;
+ }

scoped_guard (sched_change, p, queue_flags) {
set_task_slice(p, READ_ONCE(sch->slice_dfl));
diff --git a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.h b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.h
index 0b7fc46aee08c..d708abf2c3bb8 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/ext/ext.h
+++ b/kernel/sched/ext/ext.h
@@ -18,8 +18,11 @@ bool scx_can_stop_tick(struct rq *rq);
void scx_rq_activate(struct rq *rq);
void scx_rq_deactivate(struct rq *rq);
int scx_check_setscheduler(struct task_struct *p, int policy);
+void scx_prepare_setscheduler(struct task_struct *p,
+ const struct sched_class *next_class);
bool task_should_scx(int policy);
bool scx_allow_ttwu_queue(const struct task_struct *p);
+bool scx_allow_proxy_exec(const struct task_struct *p);
void init_sched_ext_class(void);

static inline u32 scx_cpuperf_target(s32 cpu)
@@ -52,8 +55,11 @@ static inline bool scx_can_stop_tick(struct rq *rq) { return true; }
static inline void scx_rq_activate(struct rq *rq) {}
static inline void scx_rq_deactivate(struct rq *rq) {}
static inline int scx_check_setscheduler(struct task_struct *p, int policy) { return 0; }
+static inline void scx_prepare_setscheduler(struct task_struct *p,
+ const struct sched_class *next_class) {}
static inline bool task_on_scx(const struct task_struct *p) { return false; }
static inline bool scx_allow_ttwu_queue(const struct task_struct *p) { return true; }
+static inline bool scx_allow_proxy_exec(const struct task_struct *p) { return true; }
static inline void init_sched_ext_class(void) {}

#endif /* CONFIG_SCHED_CLASS_EXT */
diff --git a/kernel/sched/syscalls.c b/kernel/sched/syscalls.c
index b215b0ead9a60..2bbba3dc8c890 100644
--- a/kernel/sched/syscalls.c
+++ b/kernel/sched/syscalls.c
@@ -678,6 +678,9 @@ int __sched_setscheduler(struct task_struct *p,
if (prev_class != next_class)
queue_flags |= DEQUEUE_CLASS;

+ if (!(attr->sched_flags & SCHED_FLAG_KEEP_PARAMS))
+ scx_prepare_setscheduler(p, next_class);
+
scoped_guard (sched_change, p, queue_flags) {

if (!(attr->sched_flags & SCHED_FLAG_KEEP_PARAMS)) {
--
2.55.0