[PATCH] perf/core: Do not resurrect cpuctx->cgrp after last cgroup event exit

From: Phat Dinh

Date: Fri Nov 06 2026 - 05:22:28 EST


perf_cgroup_switch() relies on:

/*
* cpuctx->cgrp is set when the first cgroup event enabled,
* and is cleared when the last cgroup event disabled.
*/

It computes the next task's cgroup, schedules out the CPU context and
then assigns cpuctx->cgrp unconditionally:

ctx_sched_out(&cpuctx->ctx, NULL, EVENT_ALL|EVENT_CGROUP);
/*
* must not be done before ctxswout due
* to update_cgrp_time_from_cpuctx() in
* ctx_sched_out()
*/
cpuctx->cgrp = cgrp;

However, ctx_sched_out() can disable events itself. If a cgroup event
has a pending disable from perf_event_disable_inatomic() (e.g. its
PERF_EVENT_IOC_REFRESH limit ran out) that the irq_work has not
handled yet, event_sched_out() consumes it inline:

if (event->pending_disable) {
event->pending_disable = 0;
perf_cgroup_event_disable(event, ctx);
state = PERF_EVENT_STATE_OFF;
}

If that was the last cgroup event, perf_cgroup_event_disable() clears
cpuctx->cgrp:

if (--ctx->nr_cgroups)
return;

cpuctx->cgrp = NULL;

and perf_cgroup_switch() then sets it again. cpuctx->cgrp is left
non-NULL with ctx.nr_cgroups == 0, so the NULL check in
perf_cgroup_switch() no longer catches it and the next switch trips:

WARN_ON_ONCE(cpuctx->ctx.nr_cgroups == 0);

cpuctx->cgrp does not hold a reference on the cgroup. Once that cgroup
is removed, the next ctx_sched_in() dereferences the stale pointer:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ctx_sched_in+0xb1f/0xfa0
Read of size 8 at addr ffff8881008972d0 by task swapper/3/0

Tainted: [W]=WARN
Call Trace:
<IRQ>
ctx_sched_in+0xb1f/0xfa0
perf_event_sched_in+0x1a/0x70
ctx_resched+0x32b/0xac0
__perf_install_in_context+0x475/0xab0
remote_function+0x105/0x200
__flush_smp_call_function_queue+0x179/0x8d0
__sysvec_call_function_single+0x1b/0x1c0
sysvec_call_function_single+0x66/0x80
</IRQ>
<TASK>
asm_sysvec_call_function_single+0x1a/0x20

Only assign cpuctx->cgrp when cgroup events remain after the context
has been scheduled out, so that it stays NULL as the invariant
requires.

Fixes: e19cd0b6fa59 ("perf/core: Always set cpuctx cgrp when enable cgroup event")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Phat Dinh <phatdt1116@xxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/events/core.c | 7 ++++++-
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index f36a3bbaa33c..54b87584c752 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -1072,8 +1072,13 @@ static void perf_cgroup_switch(struct task_struct *task)
* must not be done before ctxswout due
* to update_cgrp_time_from_cpuctx() in
* ctx_sched_out()
+ *
+ * ctx_sched_out() can consume a pending disable and drop the last cgroup
+ * event, which clear the cpuctx->cgrp. Cgroup tracking follow active cgroup
+ * event, so do not resurrect it
*/
- cpuctx->cgrp = cgrp;
+ if (cpuctx->ctx.nr_cgroups)
+ cpuctx->cgrp = cgrp;
/*
* set cgrp before ctxsw in to allow
* perf_cgroup_set_timestamp() in ctx_sched_in()

base-commit: d095321349222961813333277881b3c74f10b17b
--
2.56.0