Re: [PATCH] futex: Fix might_sleep() warning in futex_pivot_pending()

[Yao Kai <yaokai34@huawei.com>]

On 8/14/2026 9:38 PM, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 13, 2026 at 06:50:49AM +0000, syzbot wrote:
>> From: Yao Kai <yaokai34@huawei.com>
>>
>> A recent change modified futex_pivot_pending() to acquire a mutex to fix a
>> race condition. However, futex_pivot_pending() is evaluated as a condition
>> inside wait_var_event() in futex_hash_allocate(). Since wait_var_event()
>> sets the task state to TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE before evaluating the
>> condition, calling a blocking operation like mutex_lock() is invalid and
>> triggers a might_sleep() warning:
>>
>> do not call blocking ops when !TASK_RUNNING; state=2 set at
>> [<ffffffff819e8c8d>] prepare_to_wait_event+0x3dd/0x480
>> kernel/sched/wait.c:317
>> WARNING: kernel/sched/core.c:9124 at __might_sleep+0x92/0xf0
>> kernel/sched/core.c:9120
>> Call Trace:
>>   <TASK>
>>   __mutex_lock_common kernel/locking/mutex.c:623 [inline]
>>   __mutex_lock+0x118/0x1550 kernel/locking/mutex.c:821
>>   class_mutex_constructor include/linux/mutex.h:253 [inline]
>>   futex_pivot_pending kernel/futex/core.c:1789 [inline]
>>   futex_hash_allocate+0x7fb/0xf00 kernel/futex/core.c:1872
>>   __do_sys_prctl kernel/sys.c:2885 [inline]
>>   __se_sys_prctl+0x78c/0x1910 kernel/sys.c:2534
>>
>> Fix this by reverting futex_pivot_pending() to a lockless implementation
>> using RCU and memory barriers, which is the idiomatic way to handle
>> conditions in wait_event loops. By reading the hash pointer first,
>> executing an smp_rmb() memory barrier, and then reading hash_new, we
>> leverage the Message Passing (MP) pattern to guarantee correctness without
>> blocking. This pairs with the rcu_assign_pointer() release barrier in
>> __futex_pivot_hash(). If the reader sees the new hash, it is guaranteed to
>> see the cleared hash_new and correctly return true. If the reader sees the
>> old hash, it will check futex_ref_is_dead(old), which will return true if
>> the writer has already completed the pivot. The old hash memory is
>> guaranteed to remain valid for the duration of the check in
>> futex_ref_is_dead() because futex_pivot_pending() executes within an RCU
>> read-side critical section and the old hash is freed using kvfree_rcu().
>>
>> Fixes: 8e7ff730dd96 ("futex: Fix race in futex_pivot_pending() during private hash resize")
>> Assisted-by: Gemini:gemini-3.6-flash Gemini:gemini-3.1-pro-preview syzbot
>> Reported-by: syzbot+350a93852ac854927f45@syzkaller.appspotmail.com
>> Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=350a93852ac854927f45
>> Link: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/ai_job?id=29771462-e030-4501-832d-adbf8cb167c2
>> Signed-off-by: Yao Kai <yaokai34@huawei.com>
> 
> Bah. So a younger me added that might_sleep() test, because yes,
> sleeping from a wait loop is dodgy. It mostly works in this case, but
> bah.
> 
> I also build an alternative wait look scheme it seems, but we don't have
> nice helpers for that, and its never been applied to bit/var waits.
> 
> I've hacked up the below. Its not exactly what I call nice, but it
> compiles, so it must be perfect... right?
> 
> ---
> diff --git a/include/linux/wait.h b/include/linux/wait.h
> index dce055e6add3..7e215330199c 100644
> --- a/include/linux/wait.h
> +++ b/include/linux/wait.h
> @@ -1228,6 +1228,7 @@ long prepare_to_wait_event(struct wait_queue_head *wq_head, struct wait_queue_en
>   void finish_wait(struct wait_queue_head *wq_head, struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry);
>   long wait_woken(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, long timeout);
>   int woken_wake_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, int sync, void *key);
> +int woken_wake_bit_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, int sync, void *key);
>   int autoremove_wake_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, int sync, void *key);
>   
>   #define DEFINE_WAIT_FUNC(name, function)					\
> diff --git a/include/linux/wait_bit.h b/include/linux/wait_bit.h
> index ace7379d627d..553d7b23e3ad 100644
> --- a/include/linux/wait_bit.h
> +++ b/include/linux/wait_bit.h
> @@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ int out_of_line_wait_on_bit_timeout(unsigned long *word, int, wait_bit_action_f
>   int out_of_line_wait_on_bit_lock(unsigned long *word, int, wait_bit_action_f *action, unsigned int mode);
>   struct wait_queue_head *bit_waitqueue(unsigned long *word, int bit);
>   extern void __init wait_bit_init(void);
> +extern struct wait_bit_key *__var_wake_key(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, void *arg);
>   
>   int wake_bit_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, int sync, void *key);
>   
> diff --git a/kernel/futex/core.c b/kernel/futex/core.c
> index a7c2a6242718..d3311047d259 100644
> --- a/kernel/futex/core.c
> +++ b/kernel/futex/core.c
> @@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
>   #include <linux/slab.h>
>   #include <linux/vmalloc.h>
>   #include <linux/kmemleak.h>
> +#include <linux/wait_bit.h>
>   
>   #include <vdso/futex.h>
>   
> @@ -1886,11 +1887,24 @@ static int futex_hash_allocate(unsigned int hash_slots, unsigned int flags)
>   		futex_hash_bucket_init(&fph->queues[i]);
>   
>   	if (custom) {
> +		struct wait_bit_queue_entry __wbq_entry;
> +		struct wait_queue_head *__wq_head;
> +
>   		/*
>   		 * Only let prctl() wait / retry; don't unduly delay clone().
>   		 */
>   again:
> -		wait_var_event(mm, futex_pivot_pending(mm));
> +		__wq_head = __var_waitqueue(mm);
> +		init_wait_var_entry(&__wbq_entry, mm, 0);
> +		__wbq_entry.wq_entry.func = woken_wake_bit_function;
> +		add_wait_queue(__wq_head, &__wbq_entry.wq_entry);
> +		while (!futex_pivot_pending(mm)) {
> +			int rc = wait_woken(&__wbq_entry.wq_entry, TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE,
> +					    MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT);
> +			if (!rc)
> +				break;
> +		}
> +		remove_wait_queue(__wq_head, &__wbq_entry.wq_entry);
>   	}
>   
>   	scoped_guard(mutex, &mm->futex.phash.lock) {
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/wait.c b/kernel/sched/wait.c
> index 20f27e2cf7ae..d033f600f48c 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/wait.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/wait.c
> @@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
>    * (C) 2004 Nadia Yvette Chambers, Oracle
>    */
>   #include "sched.h"
> +#include <linux/wait_bit.h>
>   
>   void __init_waitqueue_head(struct wait_queue_head *wq_head, const char *name, struct lock_class_key *key)
>   {
> @@ -463,3 +464,17 @@ int woken_wake_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, int sy
>   	return default_wake_function(wq_entry, mode, sync, key);
>   }
>   EXPORT_SYMBOL(woken_wake_function);
> +
> +int woken_wake_bit_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned mode, int sync, void *arg)
> +{
> +	struct wait_bit_key *key = __var_wake_key(wq_entry, arg);
> +	if (!key)
> +		return 0;
> +
> +	/* Pairs with the smp_store_mb() in wait_woken(). */
> +	smp_mb(); /* C */
> +	wq_entry->flags |= WQ_FLAG_WOKEN;
> +
> +	return default_wake_function(wq_entry, mode, sync, key);
> +}
> +EXPORT_SYMBOL(woken_wake_bit_function);
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/wait_bit.c b/kernel/sched/wait_bit.c
> index 1088d3b7012c..e8127e83a48f 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/wait_bit.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/wait_bit.c
> @@ -167,9 +167,7 @@ wait_queue_head_t *__var_waitqueue(void *p)
>   }
>   EXPORT_SYMBOL(__var_waitqueue);
>   
> -static int
> -var_wake_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned int mode,
> -		  int sync, void *arg)
> +struct wait_bit_key *__var_wake_key(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, void *arg)
>   {
>   	struct wait_bit_key *key = arg;
>   	struct wait_bit_queue_entry *wbq_entry =
> @@ -177,6 +175,17 @@ var_wake_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned int mode,
>   
>   	if (wbq_entry->key.flags != key->flags ||
>   	    wbq_entry->key.bit_nr != key->bit_nr)
> +		return NULL;
> +
> +	return key;
> +}
> +
> +static int
> +var_wake_function(struct wait_queue_entry *wq_entry, unsigned int mode,
> +		  int sync, void *arg)
> +{
> +	struct wait_bit_key *key = __var_wake_key(wq_entry, arg);
> +	if (!key)
>   		return 0;
>   
>   	return autoremove_wake_function(wq_entry, mode, sync, key);


Thanks! I think there is still a lost-wakeup window:

         T1                              T2

         add_wait_queue()
           /* not visible to T2 */
         futex_pivot_pending()
           futex_ref_is_dead() = false
                                         futex_ref_put() = true
                                         wake_up_var()
                                           waitqueue_active() = false
                                             /* observes empty */
                                           return
         wait_woken()
         schedule()

Since wake_up_var() uses a lockless waitqueue_active() check, I think
we need to order the waitqueue insertion before the first condition
check:

   add_wait_queue(__wq_head, &__wbq_entry.wq_entry);

   /*
    * Pairs with the fully ordered refcount operation before wake_up_var().
    * Ensures either the waker sees this waiter or we see the dead refcount.
    */
   smp_mb();

   while (!futex_pivot_pending(mm))
           wait_woken(&__wbq_entry.wq_entry, TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE,
                      MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT);

The rc check can be dropped because MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT does not expire.

Thanks,
Yao Kai