CVE-2025-40260 (GCVE-0-2025-40260)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-12-04 16:08 – Updated: 2026-05-11 21:45
VLAI
Title
sched_ext: Fix scx_enable() crash on helper kthread creation failure
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched_ext: Fix scx_enable() crash on helper kthread creation failure A crash was observed when the sched_ext selftests runner was terminated with Ctrl+\ while test 15 was running: NIP [c00000000028fa58] scx_enable.constprop.0+0x358/0x12b0 LR [c00000000028fa2c] scx_enable.constprop.0+0x32c/0x12b0 Call Trace: scx_enable.constprop.0+0x32c/0x12b0 (unreliable) bpf_struct_ops_link_create+0x18c/0x22c __sys_bpf+0x23f8/0x3044 sys_bpf+0x2c/0x6c system_call_exception+0x124/0x320 system_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec kthread_run_worker() returns an ERR_PTR() on failure rather than NULL, but the current code in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() only checks for a NULL helper. Incase of failure on SIGQUIT, the error is not handled in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() and scx_enable() ends up dereferencing an error pointer. Error handling is fixed in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() to propagate PTR_ERR() into ret, so that scx_enable() jumps to the existing error path, avoiding random dereference on failure.
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: bff3b5aec1b727b620adc7c47085592802390125 , < 625e173e2a59b6cf6cbfb51c0a6bea47f3861eab (git)
Affected: bff3b5aec1b727b620adc7c47085592802390125 , < 7b6216baae751369195fa3c83d434d23bcda406a (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 6.16
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.16 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.17.10 , ≤ 6.17.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "kernel/sched/ext.c"
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                  "vulnerable": true
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          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsched_ext: Fix scx_enable() crash on helper kthread creation failure\n\nA crash was observed when the sched_ext selftests runner was\nterminated with Ctrl+\\ while test 15 was running:\n\nNIP [c00000000028fa58] scx_enable.constprop.0+0x358/0x12b0\nLR [c00000000028fa2c] scx_enable.constprop.0+0x32c/0x12b0\nCall Trace:\nscx_enable.constprop.0+0x32c/0x12b0 (unreliable)\nbpf_struct_ops_link_create+0x18c/0x22c\n__sys_bpf+0x23f8/0x3044\nsys_bpf+0x2c/0x6c\nsystem_call_exception+0x124/0x320\nsystem_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec\n\nkthread_run_worker() returns an ERR_PTR() on failure rather than NULL,\nbut the current code in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() only checks for a NULL\nhelper. Incase of failure on SIGQUIT, the error is not handled in\nscx_alloc_and_add_sched() and scx_enable() ends up dereferencing an\nerror pointer.\n\nError handling is fixed in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() to propagate\nPTR_ERR() into ret, so that scx_enable() jumps to the existing error\npath, avoiding random dereference on failure."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-05-11T21:45:53.934Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/625e173e2a59b6cf6cbfb51c0a6bea47f3861eab"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7b6216baae751369195fa3c83d434d23bcda406a"
        }
      ],
      "title": "sched_ext: Fix scx_enable() crash on helper kthread creation failure",
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  "cveMetadata": {
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2025-40260",
    "datePublished": "2025-12-04T16:08:20.590Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-04-16T07:20:57.182Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-05-11T21:45:53.934Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
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      "date": "2026-09-22",
      "epss": "0.00174",
      "percentile": "0.07102"
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        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nsched_ext: Fix scx_enable() crash on helper kthread creation failure\n\nA crash was observed when the sched_ext selftests runner was\nterminated with Ctrl+\\ while test 15 was running:\n\nNIP [c00000000028fa58] scx_enable.constprop.0+0x358/0x12b0\nLR [c00000000028fa2c] scx_enable.constprop.0+0x32c/0x12b0\nCall Trace:\nscx_enable.constprop.0+0x32c/0x12b0 (unreliable)\nbpf_struct_ops_link_create+0x18c/0x22c\n__sys_bpf+0x23f8/0x3044\nsys_bpf+0x2c/0x6c\nsystem_call_exception+0x124/0x320\nsystem_call_vectored_common+0x15c/0x2ec\n\nkthread_run_worker() returns an ERR_PTR() on failure rather than NULL,\nbut the current code in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() only checks for a NULL\nhelper. Incase of failure on SIGQUIT, the error is not handled in\nscx_alloc_and_add_sched() and scx_enable() ends up dereferencing an\nerror pointer.\n\nError handling is fixed in scx_alloc_and_add_sched() to propagate\nPTR_ERR() into ret, so that scx_enable() jumps to the existing error\npath, avoiding random dereference on failure."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2025-40260",
        "lastModified": "2026-06-17T09:21:33.007",
        "metrics": {},
        "published": "2025-12-04T16:16:19.927",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
            "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/625e173e2a59b6cf6cbfb51c0a6bea47f3861eab"
          },
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            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
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          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "vulnStatus": "Deferred"
      }
    },
    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "None",
      "current_release_date": "2026-06-30T10:34:28+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2025-40260",
      "id": "CVE-2025-40260",
      "initial_release_date": "2025-12-04T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "274",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: sched_ext: Fix scx_enable() crash on helper kthread creation failure",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2025/cve-2025-40260.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



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  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.


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