Race Condition in Linux Kernel's Real-Time Scheduler Affects Task Migration

CVE-2025-38234

What is CVE-2025-38234?

A race condition in the Linux kernel's real-time scheduler can lead to improper task migration, triggering a series of kernel panics and crashes. This occurs when tasks that are already running on a different CPU are subjected to re-evaluation for execution on their original CPU. Key checks designed to prevent this behavior may fail, causing the system to attempt waking up tasks that are no longer valid, resulting in various critical errors including null pointer dereferences and queue corruption. Systems running affected kernel versions are at risk of experiencing unpredictable behavior, system instability, and potential data loss.

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