CVE-2026-98220 — sched_ext: Fix NULL sched deref in kfunc sub-sched error paths

Affected: Linux

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

sched_ext: Fix NULL sched deref in kfunc sub-sched error paths

When the root scheduler has sub-scheds attached, the COMPAT kfunc wrappers scx_bpf_select_cpu_and() and scx_bpf_dsq_insert_vtime() refuse the call and report to @p's scheduler:

scx_error(scx_task_sched(p), "... must be used");

The wrappers are reachable with tasks that have no scheduler. scx_bpf_select_cpu_and() is in the select_cpu kfunc group, which scx_kfunc_context_filter() opens to BPF_PROG_TYPE_SYSCALL programs; scx_bpf_dsq_insert_vtime() is in the enqueue_dispatch group, which ops.enqueue() and ops.dispatch() may call with any KF_RCU task -- the group has no kf_tasks validation, and scx_dsq_insert_preamble() checks task ownership with scx_task_on_sched() precisely because @p may be an arbitrary task.

scx_task_sched(p) is p->scx.sched, which is NULL for tasks past sched_ext_dead() -- which clears it via scx_disable_and_exit_task() on exit -- and for idle tasks, which the enable paths skip as they are never scheduled through SCX. It is also an rcu_dereference_protected() that expects @p's pi_lock or rq lock, which neither wrapper holds. Passing NULL to scx_error() reaches scx_vexit(), which dereferences sch->exit_info, oopsing the kernel.

One concrete trigger exercised while developing the fix: a BPF_PROG_TYPE_SYSCALL program calling the select_cpu_and wrapper on an exited-but-not-reaped task while a sub-scheduler was attached (its pi…

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CVE-2026-98220 — sched_ext: Fix NULL sched deref in kfunc sub-sched error paths