Re: [PATCH v2] sched/mmcid: Synchronize exec MM teardown with affinity updates

[Mathieu Desnoyers]

On 2026-11-08 08:26, Weiming Shi wrote:
> set_cpus_allowed_common() passes a remote task's p->mm to
> mm_update_cpus_allowed(), but the scheduler locks do not stabilize that
> pointer against exec. A same-owner sched_setaffinity() can race the target
> replacing and freeing its old mm. Current kernels are only incidentally
> serialized by futex_exec_done() taking p->pi_lock when CONFIG_FUTEX=y;
> valid CONFIG_FUTEX=n builds remain vulnerable.
>
>    BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in set_cpus_allowed_common (kernel/sched/core.c:10835 kernel/sched/core.c:2829)
>    Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810991b04c by task poc/5127
>    Call Trace:
>     set_cpus_allowed_common (kernel/sched/core.c:10835 kernel/sched/core.c:2829)
>     set_cpus_allowed_fair (kernel/sched/fair.c:10046)
>     __set_cpus_allowed_ptr_locked (kernel/sched/core.c:2842 kernel/sched/core.c:3224)
>     __set_cpus_allowed_ptr (kernel/sched/core.c:3258)
>     __sched_setaffinity (kernel/sched/syscalls.c:1161)
>     sched_setaffinity (kernel/sched/syscalls.c:1239)
>     __x64_sys_sched_setaffinity (kernel/sched/syscalls.c:1275)
>     do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:84)
>     entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:121)
>
>    Freed by task 5128:
>     kmem_cache_free (mm/slub.c:6757)
>     __mmput (kernel/fork.c:1204)
>     mmput (kernel/fork.c:1215)
>     setup_new_exec (fs/exec.c:1395)
>     load_elf_binary (fs/binfmt_elf.c:1024)
>     bprm_execve (fs/exec.c:1865)
>     do_execveat_common.isra.0 (fs/exec.c:1963)
>     __x64_sys_execve (fs/exec.c:2036)
>     do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:84)
>     entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:121)
>
> After exec publishes the new p->mm, acquire and release the task's runqueue
> lock before the old mm can be dropped. Affinity updates already hold that
> lock across set_cpus_allowed_common(), so the barrier waits for any update
> that loaded the old mm. Updates that start afterwards observe the new mm.
>
> This keeps allowed-mask updates synchronous, including transient affinity
> expansions, without changing the MM-CID fork, exit, or scheduling paths.
>
> This change was developed with assistance from an LLM.
>
> Fixes: 7e019dcc470f ("sched: Improve cache locality of RSEQ concurrency IDs for intermittent workloads")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Reported-by: <co+cab19e2ebe4d535a@xxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Weiming Shi <bestswngs@xxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> Changes in v2:
> - Replace the schedule-in deferral with an exec-side runqueue-lock barrier.
> - Keep affinity expansions synchronous, including expansions narrowed before
>    the next schedule-in.
> - Avoid changes to the MM-CID fork, exit, and scheduling state machine.
>
>   fs/exec.c             | 1 +
>   include/linux/sched.h | 2 ++
>   kernel/sched/core.c   | 6 ++++++
>   3 files changed, 9 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/fs/exec.c b/fs/exec.c
> index 8d2b14e1d455..2e1cac6a3de7 100644
> --- a/fs/exec.c
> +++ b/fs/exec.c
> @@ -905,6 +905,7 @@ static int exec_mmap(struct linux_binprm *bprm)
>   		BUG_ON(active_mm != old_mm);
>   		/* Defer teardown to setup_new_exec(), outside the exec locks. */
>   		bprm->old_mm = old_mm;
> +		sched_mm_cid_exec_mmap(tsk);
>   	} else {
>   		mmdrop_lazy_tlb(active_mm);
>   	}
[...]
>   
> +/* Wait for affinity updates that may still be using the old MM. */
> +void sched_mm_cid_exec_mmap(struct task_struct *t)
> +{
> +	guard(task_rq_lock)(t);
> +}

Using a lock side-effect as synchronization of what sits _outside_
of the lock is an interesting synchronization pattern. If this actually
works, it should be thoroughly documented.

It should come with at least one sequence diagram explaining why this
works, along with acquire-release MO explanation.

Thanks,

Mathieu

--
Mathieu Desnoyers
EfficiOS Inc.
https://www.efficios.com