cgroup: fix race between task migration and iteration
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cgroup: fix race between task migration and iteration When a task is migrated out of a css_set, cgroup_migrate_add_task() first moves it from cset->tasks to cset->mg_tasks via: list_move_tail(&task->cg_list, &cset->mg_tasks); If a css_task_iter currently has it->task_pos pointing to this task, css_set_move_task() calls css_task_iter_skip() to keep the iterator valid. However, since the task has already been moved to ->mg_tasks, the iterator is advanced relative to the mg_tasks list instead of the original tasks list. As a result, remaining tasks on cset->tasks, as well as tasks queued on cset->mg_tasks, can be skipped by iteration. Fix this by calling css_set_skip_task_iters() before unlinking task->cg_list from cset->tasks. This advances all active iterators to the next task on cset->tasks, so iteration continues correctly even when a task is concurrently being migrated. This race is hard to hit in practice without instrumentation, but it can be reproduced by artificially slowing down cgroup_procs_show(). For example, on an Android device a temporary /sys/kernel/cgroup/cgroup_test knob can be added to inject a delay into cgroup_procs_show(), and then: 1) Spawn three long-running tasks (PIDs 101, 102, 103). 2) Create a test cgroup and move the tasks into it. 3) Enable a large delay via /sys/kernel/cgroup/cgroup_test. 4) In one shell, read cgroup.procs from the test cgroup. 5) Within the delay window, in another shell migrate PID 102 by writing it to a different cgroup.procs file. Under this setup, cgroup.procs can intermittently show only PID 101 while skipping PID 103. Once the migration completes, reading the file again shows all tasks as expected. Note that this change does not allow removing the existing css_set_skip_task_iters() call in css_set_move_task(). The new call in cgroup_migrate_add_task() only handles iterators that are racing with migration while the task is still on cset->tasks. Iterators may also start after the task has been moved to cset->mg_tasks. If we dropped css_set_skip_task_iters() from css_set_move_task(), such iterators could keep task_pos pointing to a migrating task, causing css_task_iter_advance() to malfunction on the destination css_set, up to and including crashes or infinite loops. The race window between migration and iteration is very small, and css_task_iter is not on a hot path. In the worst case, when an iterator is positioned on the first thread of the migrating process, cgroup_migrate_add_task() may have to skip multiple tasks via css_set_skip_task_iters(). However, this only happens when migration and iteration actually race, so the performance impact is negligible compared to the correctness fix provided here.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.14.138 to before 4.15; 4.19.66 to before 4.20 | 4.15, 4.20 | Patch available | CNA |
| Linux | Linux | 5.2 and later | 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.14.138 to before 4.15; 4.19.66 to before 4.20 Fixed in 4.15, 4.20 Patch available CNA
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.2 and later Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.14.138 to before 4.15; 4.19.66 to before 4.20; 5.2.1 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.167; 6.2 to before 6.6.130; 6.7 to before 6.12.78; 6.13 to before 6.18.19; 6.19 to before 6.19.9 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.2 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.2 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.2 rc7 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.14.138 to before 4.15; 4.19.66 to before 4.20; 5.2.1 to before 5.10.253; 5.11 to before 5.15.203; 5.16 to before 6.1.167; 6.2 to before 6.6.130; 6.7 to before 6.12.78; 6.13 to before 6.18.19; 6.19 to before 6.19.9 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.2 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.2 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.2:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.2 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.15, 4.20
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.253, 5.15.203, 6.1.167, 6.6.130, 6.12.78, 6.18.19, 6.19.9, 7.0
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-43439
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-53qp-89jc-q338
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c85debc35e6d131bd29c64f2ae78c6ede0e55c4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3b95abab7369235a37b15eaec6e1a0b443bba7c7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a9654a2b46cfdaae287fb8995f536245635e467
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3dfd1328c05234e8d8fa61948b2ba82680594988
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9cca530c7cc1b3e02cb8fa7f80060dd4b38562ce
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86ceaccfdfa16dad05addb33dc206e03589bcfd1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9dc76f6fc0d28d2382583715bc4ec22f28104845
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5ee01f1a7343d6a3547b6802ca2d4cdce0edacb1
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- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-43439 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-43439 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-53qp-89jc-q338 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-43439 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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