<Vulnerability name="CVE-2026-74594">
    <DocumentDistribution xml:lang="en">Copyright © 2012 Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved.</DocumentDistribution>
    <ThreatSeverity>Moderate</ThreatSeverity>
    <PublicDate>2026-08-22T00:00:00</PublicDate>
    <Bugzilla id="2521435" url="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2521435" xml:lang="en:us">
kernel: sched/psi: Shut down rtpoll_timer in psi_cgroup_free()
    </Bugzilla>
    <CVSS3 status="draft">
        <CVSS3BaseScore>7.0</CVSS3BaseScore>
        <CVSS3ScoringVector>CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H</CVSS3ScoringVector>
    </CVSS3>
    <CWE>CWE-364</CWE>
    <Details xml:lang="en:us" source="Mitre">
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

sched/psi: Shut down rtpoll_timer in psi_cgroup_free()

psi_schedule_rtpoll_work() is called locklessly from the scheduler hotpath
and can race psi_trigger_destroy() taking down the last rtpoll trigger under
rtpoll_trigger_lock:

  psi_schedule_rtpoll_work()        psi_trigger_destroy()

  rcu_read_lock();
  task = rcu_dereference(rtpoll_task);
                                    rcu_assign_pointer(rtpoll_task, NULL);
                                    timer_delete(&amp;rtpoll_timer);
  mod_timer(&amp;rtpoll_timer, ...);
  rcu_read_unlock();
                                    synchronize_rcu();
                                    kthread_stop(task_to_destroy);

The group can then be freed with the re-armed timer still pending, and
poll_timer_fn() runs on freed memory.

461daba06bdc ("psi: eliminate kthread_worker from psi trigger scheduling
mechanism") deleted the timer synchronously after the synchronize_rcu(),
which prevented this but raced trigger creation instead: the deletion could
cancel the timer that a new trigger set armed during the grace period and,
as creation also reinitialized the timer at the time, corrupt it.
8f91efd870ea ("psi: Fix race between psi_trigger_create/destroy") moved the
initialization into group_init() and the deletion into the locked section,
trading the creation races for the window above.

Neither placement in the destruction path works. A pending timer firing
while the group is alive is harmless though. poll_timer_fn() just wakes the
rtpoll waitqueue and doesn't re-arm itself. Bind the timer to the group's
lifetime instead and shut it down in psi_cgroup_free(). Nothing can arm it
by then. timer_shutdown_sync() because the timer is never armed again.
    </Details>
    <Details xml:lang="en:us" source="Red Hat">
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Pressure Stall Information (PSI) subsystem. A race condition exists where a timer (rtpoll_timer) can be re-armed after it has been deleted during the destruction of a control group (cgroup). This can lead to the timer function executing on freed memory, potentially causing system instability or a crash. This vulnerability arises from an improper shutdown of the rtpoll_timer in psi_cgroup_free().
    </Details>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10</ProductName>
        <FixState>Not affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6</ProductName>
        <FixState>Not affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</ProductName>
        <FixState>Not affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7</ProductName>
        <FixState>Not affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel-rt</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8</ProductName>
        <FixState>Affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8</ProductName>
        <FixState>Affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel-rt</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9</ProductName>
        <FixState>Not affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <PackageState cpe="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9">
        <ProductName>Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9</ProductName>
        <FixState>Not affected</FixState>
        <PackageName>kernel-rt</PackageName>
    </PackageState>
    <References xml:lang="en:us">
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-74594
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74594
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-cve-announce/2026082213-CVE-2026-74594-644a@gregkh/T
    </References>
</Vulnerability>