Local system hang via perf wait-queue lock inversion
Published Mar 25, 2026 · Updated Mar 25, 2026
Deadlock in Linux Kernel 6.15 allows local users to hang the system by scheduling a pinned perf event that fails. During ctx_sched_in(), the failure path calls perf_event_wakeup() while holding the perf context lock, causing the wake-up path to acquire the event wait-queue lock in an invalid context. Exploitation requires low-privilege local access and creation of a pinned perf event whose scheduling fails; the resulting lock inversion can interrupt system availability.
Summary
What happened
Deadlock in Linux Kernel 6.15 allows local users to hang the system by scheduling a pinned perf event that fails. During ctx_sched_in(), the failure path calls perf_event_wakeup() while holding the perf context lock, causing the wake-up path to acquire the event wait-queue lock in an invalid context. Exploitation requires low-privilege local access and creation of a pinned perf event whose scheduling fails; the resulting lock inversion can interrupt system availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-23311
- Published
- Mar 25, 2026
- Updated
- Mar 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 25, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=6.15
- Affected versionversion=f4b07fd62d4d11d57a15cb4ae01b3833282eb8f6 <486ff5ad49bc50315bcaf6d45f04a33ef0a45ced
- Affected versionversion=f4b07fd62d4d11d57a15cb4ae01b3833282eb8f6 <825f218ca70ef394c2b8546b313711d867b24584
- Affected versionversion=f4b07fd62d4d11d57a15cb4ae01b3833282eb8f6 <c67ab059953e3b66cb17ddd6524c23f9e1f6526d
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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