cgroup: Avoid iteration of dying tasks with zero refcount

{
  "id": "a22dd6bb21cf018175bdf67b1ad9cef4a9617170fbcd5f9a7e9b58093f43608d",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98163",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "cgroup: Avoid iteration of dying tasks with zero refcount",
    "summary": "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. Roug",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-98163",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "Kernel",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "7.2.8",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-98163",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-98163"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "260fbcb92bbeacfcd050410fdc2d24ab15044400"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "828938118d6c2bb711301748c3e39e4bed6a62f5"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "057dac23d329d5c5ed62352f2659a39fd46c6d4a"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-98163.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "6.19.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "7.2.8"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "Kernel",
            "ecosystem": "Linux"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-98163.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:40.147754033Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/057dac23d329d5c5ed62352f2659a39fd46c6d4a",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/828938118d6c2bb711301748c3e39e4bed6a62f5",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98163.json",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98163",
        "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna_assigner": "Linux",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98163.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-98163",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 507771,
  "published_at": "2026-09-26T08:31:50.899+00:00"
}