In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
sched/scs: Reset task stack state in bringup_cpu()
To hot unplug a CPU, the idle task on that CPU calls a few layers of C code before finally leaving the kernel. When KASAN is in use, poisoned shadow is left around for each of the active stack frames, and when shadow call stacks are in use. When shadow call stacks (SCS) are in use the task's saved SCS SP is left pointing at an arbitrary point within the task's shadow call stack.
When a CPU is offlined than onlined back into the kernel, this stale state can adversely affect execution. Stale KASAN shadow can alias new stackframes and result in bogus KASAN warnings. A stale SCS SP is effectively a memory leak, and prevents a portion of the shadow call stack being used. Across a number of hotplug cycles the idle task's entire shadow call stack can become unusable.
We previously fixed the KASAN issue in commit:
e1b77c92981a5222 ("sched/kasan: remove stale KASAN poison after hotplug")
... by removing any stale KASAN stack poison immediately prior to onlining a CPU.
Subsequently in commit:
f1a0a376ca0c4ef1 ("sched/core: Initialize the idle task with preemption disabled")
... the refactoring left the KASAN and SCS cleanup in one-time idle thread initialization code rather than something invoked prior to each CPU being onlined, breaking both as above.
We fixed SCS (but not KASAN) in commit:
63acd42c0d4942f7 ("sched/scs: Reset the shadow stack when idle_task_exit")
... but as this runs in the context of the idle task being offlined it's potentially fragile.
To fix these consistently and more robustly, reset the SCS SP and KASAN shadow of a CPU's idle task immediately before we online that CPU in bringup_cpu(). This ensures the idle task always has a consistent state when it is running, and removes the need to so so when exiting an idle task.
Whenever any thread is created, dup_task_struct() will give the task a stack which is free of KASAN shadow, and initialize the task's SCS SP, so there's no need to specially initialize either for idle thread within init_idle(), as this was only necessary to handle hotplug cycles.
I've tested this on arm64 with:
* gcc 11.1.0, defconfig +KASAN_INLINE, KASAN_STACK * clang 12.0.0, defconfig +KASAN_INLINE, KASAN_STACK, SHADOW_CALL_STACK
... offlining and onlining CPUS with:
| while true; do | for C in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/online; do | echo 0 > $C; | echo 1 > $C; | done | done
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 7.8
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | — | Upgrade kernel-headersUpgrade python-perfUpgrade kernel-livepatch-5.10.93-87.444Upgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade python-perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade perfUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade bpftoolUpgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-tools-devel | Mar 14, 2025 | May 24, 2024 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Jul 30, 2024 | May 24, 2024 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Jul 9, 2025 | May 24, 2024 |
| Suse | — | Upgrade kernel-rt-vdsoUpgrade kernel-source-vanillaUpgrade kernel-rt_debugUpgrade kernel-rt-extraUpgrade dtb-allwinnerUpgrade dtb-freescaleUpgrade cluster-md-kmp-64kbUpgrade kernel-azureUpgrade dtb-renesasUpgrade dtb-exynosUpgrade cluster-md-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-64kb-extraUpgrade dtb-lgUpgrade kernel-rtUpgrade kernel-default-develUpgrade kernel-debug-vdsoUpgrade ocfs2-kmp-64kbUpgrade dtb-caviumUpgrade kernel-azure-extraUpgrade kernel-default-livepatchUpgrade dlm-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-default-vdsoUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-livepatch-develUpgrade kernel-obs-buildUpgrade dtb-amazonUpgrade kernel-rt_debug-livepatch-develUpgrade kernel-rt-optionalUpgrade kernel-azure-optionalUpgrade kernel-sourceUpgrade dtb-sprdUpgrade gfs2-kmp-defaultUpgrade reiserfs-kmp-64kbUpgrade ocfs2-kmp-defaultUpgrade gfs2-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-64kbUpgrade dtb-broadcomUpgrade dtb-nvidiaUpgrade kselftests-kmp-64kbUpgrade kernel-docs-htmlUpgrade kernel-default-baseUpgrade dtb-marvellUpgrade ocfs2-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-default-livepatch-develUpgrade dtb-alteraUpgrade dtb-appleUpgrade kernel-rt_debug-develUpgrade kernel-source-rtUpgrade kselftests-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-vdsoUpgrade kernel-source-azureUpgrade dlm-kmp-64kbUpgrade kernel-azure-develUpgrade kselftests-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-azure-livepatch-develUpgrade kernel-default-base-rebuildUpgrade kernel-symsUpgrade kernel-debugUpgrade reiserfs-kmp-azureUpgrade dtb-hisiliconUpgrade kernel-syms-azureUpgrade kernel-debug-develUpgrade kernel-rt-livepatch-develUpgrade dtb-armUpgrade gfs2-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-default-optionalUpgrade kernel-default-extraUpgrade dtb-socionextUpgrade dtb-qcomUpgrade dlm-kmp-defaultUpgrade kernel-64kb-optionalUpgrade kernel-defaultUpgrade kernel-docsUpgrade kernel-azure-vdsoUpgrade kernel-rt-livepatchUpgrade kernel-rt_debug-vdsoUpgrade kernel-devel-rtUpgrade kernel-kvmsmallUpgrade dtb-rockchipUpgrade reiserfs-kmp-rtUpgrade dtb-amlogicUpgrade dtb-xilinxUpgrade kselftests-kmp-defaultUpgrade dlm-kmp-azureUpgrade kernel-64kb-livepatch-develUpgrade ocfs2-kmp-rtUpgrade kernel-debug-livepatch-develUpgrade kernel-zfcpdumpUpgrade kernel-obs-qaUpgrade kernel-develUpgrade reiserfs-kmp-defaultUpgrade kernel-rt-develUpgrade dtb-apmUpgrade cluster-md-kmp-defaultUpgrade kernel-devel-azureUpgrade kernel-macrosUpgrade cluster-md-kmp-azureUpgrade dtb-mediatekUpgrade dtb-amdUpgrade kernel-syms-rtUpgrade kernel-64kb-develUpgrade gfs2-kmp-64kbUpgrade kernel-kvmsmall-devel | Aug 9, 2024 | May 24, 2024 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | Jan 20, 2025 | May 24, 2024 |
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