Skip to content
Heist/ feed
Back to feed
UnratedFix available

rqspinlock: Reset tail when preserving queue on deadlock

Type: advisorySources: OSV

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rqspinlock: Reset tail when preserving queue on deadlock Currently, the destruction of the waiter queue is suppressed for rqspinlock in cases where a deadlock is detected. Deadlock checks happen relatively frequently (on entry for AA, within 1ms for ABBA), and waiter threads may not be involved in locking scenarios involving deadlocks. Thus, it is useful to not flush the queue and let other waiters take a stab at acquiring the lock after we detect a deadlock and exit. However, we need to follow the same logic as what we did previously for the waitq_timeout label: reset the tail, and if we cannot, signal the next waiter appropriately. In case of deadlocks, this signal would just mark the MCS node as unlocked, and in case of timeouts, it would signal RES_TIMEOUT_VAL. The difference thus is in the value propagated, which decides whether the queue remains active or gets flushed. Not doing the tail reset, and waiting for the next waiter can lead to cases where we are the final waiter, and thus no next waiter arrives, leading to intermittent stalls in this path. Once the next waiter does join, we will be unblocked. In the theoretical case when the next waiter never joins, we risk stalling indefinitely. This can only happen for ABBA deadlocks, since entry into the wait queue is guarded with AA checks. A precise sequence of executions leading up to this scenario can be: CPU 0 holds lock A. CPU 1 holds lock B. CPU 2 a

Products
Kernel
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
7.1.9
CVEs
CVE-2026-74686
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
2 Nov 2026, 23:11 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

rqspinlock: Reset tail when preserving queue on deadlock

core-osv · Original source

Published 22 Aug 2026, 15:32 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rqspinlock: Reset tail when preserving queue on deadlock Currently, the destruction of the waiter queue is suppressed for rqspinlock in cases where a deadlock is detected. Deadlock checks happen relatively frequently (on entry for AA, within 1ms for ABBA), and waiter threads may not be involved in locking scenarios involving deadlocks. Thus, it is useful to not flush the queue and let other waiters take a stab at acquiring the lock after we detect a deadlock and exit. However, we need to follow the same logic as what we did previously for the waitq_timeout label: reset the tail, and if we cannot, signal the next waiter appropriately. In case of deadlocks, this signal would just mark the MCS node as unlocked, and in case of timeouts, it would signal RES_TIMEOUT_VAL. The difference thus is in the value propagated, which decides whether the queue remains active or gets flushed. Not doing the tail reset, and waiting for the next waiter can lead to cases where we are the final waiter, and thus no next waiter arrives, leading to intermittent stalls in this path. Once the next waiter does join, we will be unblocked. In the theoretical case when the next waiter never joins, we risk stalling indefinitely. This can only happen for ABBA deadlocks, since entry into the wait queue is guarded with AA checks. A precise sequence of executions leading up to this scenario can be: CPU 0 holds lock A. CPU 1 holds lock B. CPU 2 a

osv:CVE-2026-74686

Kernel

Fixed versions: 7.1.9

Complete source record
{
  "id": "c8d75fdca441cc2893a8a8a6fe604ac3d8521e6d79265d19c6535662e08ebee5",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-74686",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "rqspinlock: Reset tail when preserving queue on deadlock",
    "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: rqspinlock: Reset tail when preserving queue on deadlock Currently, the destruction of the waiter queue is suppressed for rqspinlock in cases where a deadlock is detected. Deadlock checks happen relatively frequently (on entry for AA, within 1ms for ABBA), and waiter threads may not be involved in locking scenarios involving deadlocks. Thus, it is useful to not flush the queue and let other waiters take a stab at acquiring the lock after we detect a deadlock and exit. However, we need to follow the same logic as what we did previously for the waitq_timeout label: reset the tail, and if we cannot, signal the next waiter appropriately. In case of deadlocks, this signal would just mark the MCS node as unlocked, and in case of timeouts, it would signal RES_TIMEOUT_VAL. The difference thus is in the value propagated, which decides whether the queue remains active or gets flushed. Not doing the tail reset, and waiting for the next waiter can lead to cases where we are the final waiter, and thus no next waiter arrives, leading to intermittent stalls in this path. Once the next waiter does join, we will be unblocked. In the theoretical case when the next waiter never joins, we risk stalling indefinitely. This can only happen for ABBA deadlocks, since entry into the wait queue is guarded with AA checks. A precise sequence of executions leading up to this scenario can be: CPU 0 holds lock A. CPU 1 holds lock B. CPU 2 a",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-74686",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "Kernel",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "7.1.9",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "unknown",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-74686",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-74686"
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "7bd6e5ce5be666fb3fb873bf20f77e62555b7835"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "f54667b0c16213285c9d9b8e3929f738b8f71826"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "7a3c0289c3c8eb4607dff448ae9ff9f902c813af"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-74686.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "6.19.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "7.1.9"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "Kernel",
            "ecosystem": "Linux"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-74686.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:24.537970894Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a3c0289c3c8eb4607dff448ae9ff9f902c813af",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f54667b0c16213285c9d9b8e3929f738b8f71826",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/74xxx/CVE-2026-74686.json",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-74686",
        "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/2026/74xxx/CVE-2026-74686.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-74686",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": null
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 490783,
  "published_at": "2026-08-22T15:32:52.178+00:00"
}