[PATCH] proc: Report SIGEV_NONE in /proc/pid/timers if target task has died

From: Andrei Vagin

Date: Sun Aug 16 2026 - 12:13:21 EST


When a posix timer is created targeting a specific thread (using
SIGEV_SIGNAL | SIGEV_THREAD_ID), it takes a reference to the target
struct pid in timer->it_pid. If the target thread subsequently
terminates, its numeric tid is freed and can be recycled for an
unrelated task. However, the timer holds its reference to the original
struct pid.

show_timer() in /proc/[pid]/timers previously called pid_nr_ns()
directly on timer->it_pid without checking whether any task remained
attached to that struct pid. As a result:
1. It reported the stale tid, which could mistakenly refer to a recycled
pid.
2. In the kernel, expired signals for dead target threads are dropped by
posixtimer_send_sigqueue() because posixtimer_get_target() returns
NULL, so the timer functionally acts as SIGEV_NONE.
3. Checkpoint/restore tools (CRIU) parsing /proc/[pid]/timers would try
to restore a timer with SIGEV_SIGNAL | SIGEV_THREAD_ID targeting a
non-existent or unrelated thread.

Check pid_has_task(timer->it_pid, timer->it_pid_type) in show_timer().
If the target task has died, override notify to SIGEV_NONE and report
PID 0 (e.g., 'notify: none/pid.0').

Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Andrei Vagin <avagin@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/proc/base.c | 8 +++++++-
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/fs/proc/base.c b/fs/proc/base.c
index 780f81259052..e3a6ea4fffea 100644
--- a/fs/proc/base.c
+++ b/fs/proc/base.c
@@ -2519,17 +2519,23 @@ static int show_timer(struct seq_file *m, void *v)
struct k_itimer *timer = hlist_entry((struct hlist_node *)v, struct k_itimer, list);
struct timers_private *tp = m->private;
int notify = timer->it_sigev_notify;
+ pid_t nr = 0;

guard(spinlock_irq)(&timer->it_lock);
if (!posixtimer_valid(timer))
return 0;

+ if (timer->it_pid && pid_has_task(timer->it_pid, timer->it_pid_type))
+ nr = pid_nr_ns(timer->it_pid, tp->ns);
+ else
+ notify = SIGEV_NONE;
+
seq_printf(m, "ID: %d\n", timer->it_id);
seq_printf(m, "signal: %d/%px\n", timer->sigq.info.si_signo,
timer->sigq.info.si_value.sival_ptr);
seq_printf(m, "notify: %s/%s.%d\n", nstr[notify & ~SIGEV_THREAD_ID],
(notify & SIGEV_THREAD_ID) ? "tid" : "pid",
- pid_nr_ns(timer->it_pid, tp->ns));
+ nr);
seq_printf(m, "ClockID: %d\n", timer->it_clock);

return 0;
--
2.55.0.691.gc56d675ccc-goog