Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
cgroup: split cgroup_destroy_wq into 3 workqueues
A hung task can occur during [1] LTP cgroup testing when repeatedly
mounting/unmounting perf_event and net_prio controllers with
systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1. The hang manifests in
cgroup_lock_and_drain_offline() during root destruction.
Related case:
cgroup_fj_function_perf_event cgroup_fj_function.sh perf_event
cgroup_fj_function_net_prio cgroup_fj_function.sh net_prio
Call Trace:
cgroup_lock_and_drain_offline+0x14c/0x1e8
cgroup_destroy_root+0x3c/0x2c0
css_free_rwork_fn+0x248/0x338
process_one_work+0x16c/0x3b8
worker_thread+0x22c/0x3b0
kthread+0xec/0x100
ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20
Root Cause:
CPU0 CPU1
mount perf_event umount net_prio
cgroup1_get_tree cgroup_kill_sb
rebind_subsystems // root destruction enqueues
// cgroup_destroy_wq
// kill all perf_event css
// one perf_event css A is dying
// css A offline enqueues cgroup_destroy_wq
// root destruction will be executed first
css_free_rwork_fn
cgroup_destroy_root
cgroup_lock_and_drain_offline
// some perf descendants are dying
// cgroup_destroy_wq max_active = 1
// waiting for css A to die
Problem scenario:
1. CPU0 mounts perf_event (rebind_subsystems)
2. CPU1 unmounts net_prio (cgroup_kill_sb), queuing root destruction work
3. A dying perf_event CSS gets queued for offline after root destruction
4. Root destruction waits for offline completion, but offline work is
blocked behind root destruction in cgroup_destroy_wq (max_active=1)
Solution:
Split cgroup_destroy_wq into three dedicated workqueues:
cgroup_offline_wq – Handles CSS offline operations
cgroup_release_wq – Manages resource release
cgroup_free_wq – Performs final memory deallocation
This separation eliminates blocking in the CSS free path while waiting for
offline operations to complete.
[1] https://github.com/linux-test-project/ltp/blob/master/runtest/controllers