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CVE-2026-43326
sched_ext: Fix SCX_KICK_WAIT deadlock by deferring wait to balance callback
Published 2026-05-08 (5 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem kernel/sched. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-43326 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | vulnerable | 6.12.113-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 6.19.12-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.19.12-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 6.19.12-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.19.12-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
SCX_KICK_WAIT busy-waits in kick_cpus_irq_workfn() using smp_cond_load_acquire() until the target CPU's kick_sync advances. Because the irq_work runs in hardirq context, the waiting CPU cannot reschedule and its own kick_sync never advances. If multiple CPUs form a wait cycle, all CPUs deadlock. Replace the busy-wait in kick_cpus_irq_workfn() with resched_curr() to force the CPU through do_pick_task_scx(), which queues a balance callback to perform the wait. The balance callback drops the rq lock and enables IRQs following the sched_core_balance() pattern, so the CPU can process IPIs while waiting. The local CPU's kick_sync is advanced on entry to do_pick_task_scx() and continuously during the wait, ensuring any CPU that starts waiting for us sees the advancement and cannot form cyclic dependencies.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
kernel/sched/ext.c
kernel/sched/sched.h
- What this is
- SCHEDULERMAINTAINERS section matched on kernel/sched/ · linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Not established. This site could not find the build rule for the affected file in the kernel trees Debian ships, so it has no answer about whether Debian compiles this code. Read that as unknown, never as absent.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid?
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS
Signals
- Published
- 2026-05-08 (5 months ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.11%, higher than 1.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- kernel/sched
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.12 | 6.19.12 | c3a7903f65cf |
| 6.12 | 7.0 | 415cb193bb97 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-43326, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.