Upstream information

CVE-2026-98163 at MITRE

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

cgroup: Avoid iteration of dying tasks with zero refcount

The commit 260fbcb92bbea ("cgroup: Move dying_tasks cleanup from
cgroup_task_release() to cgroup_task_free()") extended the lifetime of
tasks on the dying_tasks list.
The iterators have provision to go through dying_tasks because of
dying threadgroup leaders or explicit CSS_TASK_ITER_WITH_DEAD, however,
it was expected that such tasks can obtain a new reference (that is
possible before cgroup_task_release()/put_task_struct_rcu_user()).
The tasks after cgroup_task_release() and before cgroup_task_free()
are subject to race when they may or may not have ->usage count > 0.

The race window is between css_task_iter_next() invocations
when css_set_lock is released and we may arrive at a new ->task_pos.
The iterator should not attempt to resurrect tasks whose ->usage count
dropped to zero. (When that happens, __put_task_struct_rcu_cb() is
already imminent and the returned task_struct would could be used
after free.)

As for the fix, we cannot simply check the signal->live count of a task
on the dying list because that won't distinguish regular zombies waiting
to be reaped from RCU remnant tasks that are going to be free'd.
Therefore add an extra check to rule out ->usage==0 tasks from any
iteration.

The repeat: loop in css_task_iter_advance() doesn't consider ->usage
count, so add a new loop to css_task_iter_next() to skip de-used tasks
on the dying_list.

Rough illustration of the possible race

R (reader of cgroup.procs) T (thread) L (group leader)
--------------------------------- -------------------------------- --------------------------------
L exits, signal->live > 0
cgroup_task_dead(L)
css_set_skip_task_iters() // skips only cset->tasks
list_add_tail(&L->cg_list, &cset->dying_tasks)
css_task_iter_next()
take css_set_lock
css_task_iter_advance()
leader && signal->live != 0
=> it->task_pos = &L->cg_list
release css_set_lock
T exits
--signal->live == 0
cgroup_task_dead(T) // css_set_lock
release_task(T)
cgroup_task_release(T)
release_task(L) // zap_leader
cgroup_task_release(L)
put_task_struct_rcu_user(L)
...RCU...
put_task_struct(L)
L->usage = 0
/* L still on dying_tasks */
...RCU...
__put_task_struct(L)
css_task_iter_next() // another iteration
take css_set_lock
it->task_pos = &L->cg_list
get_task_struct(L)
=> addition on 0
drop css_set_lock
cgroup_task_free(L)
css_set_skip_task_iters() // dying skip comes too late
free_task(L)
cgroup_procs_show()
task_pid_vnr(L)

SUSE information

Overall state of this security issue: New

This issue is currently rated as having not set severity.

Note from the SUSE Security Team on the kernel-default package

SUSE will no longer fix all CVEs in the Linux Kernel anymore, but declare some bug classes as won't fix. Please refer to TID 21496 for more details.

No SUSE Bugzilla entries cross referenced.

No SUSE Security Announcements cross referenced.


Status of this issue by product and package

Please note that this evaluation state might be work in progress, incomplete or outdated. Also information for service packs in the LTSS phase is only included for issues meeting the LTSS criteria. If in doubt, feel free to contact us for clarification. The updates are grouped by state of their lifecycle. SUSE product lifecycles are documented on the lifecycle page.

Product(s) Source package State
Products under general support and receiving all security fixes.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.1 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP7 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP applications 16.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.0 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.1 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro 6.2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.0 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Micro Extras 6.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-source-rt Analysis
openSUSE Leap 16.0 kernel-source Analysis
Products under Long Term Service Pack support and receiving important and critical security fixes.
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 12 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 LTSS EXTREME CORE kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP6 kernel-source Analysis
Products past their end of life and not receiving proactive updates anymore.
SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP5 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP6 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-ESPOS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-ESPOS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.0 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-BCL kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-BCL kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-default Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3-LTSS kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Proxy 4.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Proxy LTS 4.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server 4.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Retail Branch Server LTS 4.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Server 4.0 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Server 4.1 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Server 4.2 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Server 4.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Manager Server LTS 4.3 kernel-source Analysis
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP4 kernel-source-rt Analysis
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP5 kernel-source-rt Analysis
openSUSE Leap 15.3 kernel-source Analysis
openSUSE Leap 15.4 kernel-source Analysis
openSUSE Leap 15.4 kernel-source-rt Analysis
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-source Analysis
openSUSE Leap 15.5 kernel-source-rt Analysis
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-source Analysis


SUSE Timeline for this CVE

CVE page created: Sat Sep 26 13:42:43 2026
CVE page last modified: Sat Sep 26 13:42:43 2026