[PATCH] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_device_release()

[PATCH] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_device_release()

[Mohamed Ayman]

Dropping the last reference to a coresight_device can trigger a kernel
panic on PREEMPT_RT builds due to a "scheduling while atomic" violation.

When the CPU enters an idle state, coresight_cpu_pm_notify() is invoked
with local interrupts disabled (atomic context). This function eventually
calls coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(), which drops the device reference
via put_device(). If this is the last reference, it triggers the release
chain:

  coresight_cpu_pm_notify() (IRQs off)
    -> coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()
      -> put_device()
        -> coresight_device_release()
          -> free_percpu()

On a PREEMPT_RT kernel, free_percpu() acquires pcpu_lock, which is
implemented as a sleeping rt-mutex. Sleeping while in an atomic context
causes a system crash.

Fix this by deferring the teardown of the coresight_device to process
context. Add a work_struct to `struct coresight_device` and use
schedule_work() inside coresight_device_release() to safely execute
free_percpu() and kfree() in a worker thread, away from the atomic PM
notifier path.

Additionally, remove the redundant raw_spinlock_irqsave guard in
coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(). The lock was originally intended to
protect the per-CPU pointer table, but dropping a reference does not
touch this table.

Signed-off-by: Mohamed Ayman <mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com>
---
 drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c | 28 +++++++++++++-------
 include/linux/coresight.h                    |  2 ++
 2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
index 6d65c43d5..9dbdb2977 100644
--- a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
+++ b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
@@ -165,13 +165,6 @@ void coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(struct coresight_device *csdev)
 
 	guard(raw_spinlock_irqsave)(&coresight_dev_lock);
 
-	/*
-	 * TODO: coresight_device_release() is invoked to release resources when
-	 * the device's refcount reaches zero. It then calls free_percpu(),
-	 * which acquires pcpu_lock — a sleepable lock when PREEMPT_RT is
-	 * enabled. Since the raw spinlock coresight_dev_lock is held, this can
-	 * lead to a potential "scheduling while atomic" issue.
-	 */
 	put_device(&csdev->dev);
 }
 
@@ -1257,13 +1250,30 @@ static void coresight_clear_default_sink(struct coresight_device *csdev)
 	}
 }
 
+static void coresight_device_release_work(struct work_struct *work)
+{
+	struct coresight_device *csdev =
+		container_of(work, struct coresight_device, free_work);
+
+	free_percpu(csdev->perf_sink_id_map.cpu_map);
+	kfree(csdev);
+}
+
 static void coresight_device_release(struct device *dev)
 {
 	struct coresight_device *csdev = to_coresight_device(dev);
 
 	fwnode_handle_put(csdev->dev.fwnode);
-	free_percpu(csdev->perf_sink_id_map.cpu_map);
-	kfree(csdev);
+
+	/*
+	 * This release callback can run with the last reference dropped
+	 * from atomic/IRQs-off context (e.g. coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()
+	 * called from the CPU_PM notifier). free_percpu() takes pcpu_lock,
+	 * which is a sleeping lock under PREEMPT_RT, so defer the actual
+	 * teardown to process context.
+	 */
+	INIT_WORK(&csdev->free_work, coresight_device_release_work);
+	schedule_work(&csdev->free_work);
 }
 
 static int coresight_orphan_match(struct device *dev, void *data)
diff --git a/include/linux/coresight.h b/include/linux/coresight.h
index ddf18c970..63253f6c4 100644
--- a/include/linux/coresight.h
+++ b/include/linux/coresight.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <linux/perf_event.h>
 #include <linux/sched.h>
 #include <linux/platform_device.h>
+#include <linux/workqueue.h>
 
 /* Peripheral id registers (0xFD0-0xFEC) */
 #define CORESIGHT_PERIPHIDR4	0xfd0
@@ -293,6 +294,7 @@ struct coresight_device {
 	struct csdev_access access;
 	struct device dev;
 	struct coresight_path *path;
+	struct work_struct free_work;
 	atomic_t mode;
 	int refcnt;
 	int cpu;
-- 
2.34.1

Re: [PATCH] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_device_release()

[sashiko-bot]

Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 3 potential issue(s) to consider:

New issues:
- [High] Asynchronous device release via the global workqueue lacks module exit synchronization, leading to a Use-After-Free.

Pre-existing issues:
- [High] The patch commit message claims to remove a redundant raw_spinlock_irqsave guard, but fails to actually do so.
- [High] Deferring coresight_device_release does not make put_device() safe to call from an atomic context.
--

--- Patch [1]: [PATCH] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_device_release() ---
commit c57af442711428cc5593c1e439fa97218ed23c0d
Author: Mohamed Ayman <mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com>

coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_device_release()

This patch attempts to fix a scheduling while atomic bug on PREEMPT_RT builds
by deferring coresight_device teardown to a workqueue. It also mentions
removing a redundant raw spinlock guard.

> diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> index 6d65c43d574fd..9dbdb29770260 100644
> --- a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> +++ b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> @@ -165,13 +165,6 @@ void coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(struct coresight_device *csdev)
>  
>  	guard(raw_spinlock_irqsave)(&coresight_dev_lock);
>  
> -	/*
> -	 * TODO: coresight_device_release() is invoked to release resources when
> -	 * the device's refcount reaches zero. It then calls free_percpu(),
> -	 * which acquires pcpu_lock — a sleepable lock when PREEMPT_RT is
> -	 * enabled. Since the raw spinlock coresight_dev_lock is held, this can
> -	 * lead to a potential "scheduling while atomic" issue.
> -	 */
>  	put_device(&csdev->dev);

[Severity: High]
This is a pre-existing issue, but the commit message states it will
"remove the redundant raw_spinlock_irqsave guard in
coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()". However, the diff only removes
the comment block.

Since the guard remains intact, won't put_device() still execute with
coresight_dev_lock held, continuing to trigger the atomic violation?

[Severity: High]
This is also a pre-existing issue, but is it safe to call put_device()
from an atomic context even if the release callback is deferred?

If this is the last reference to the parent device (such as an AMBA or
platform device), kobject_cleanup() can synchronously drop the parent
reference:

put_device()
  kobject_put()
    kobject_cleanup()
      kobject_put(parent)

If the parent's release function acquires sleepable locks, could this
still result in an atomic sleep bug? Would it be safer to defer the
put_device() call itself to process context?

>  }

[ ... ]

> +static void coresight_device_release_work(struct work_struct *work)
> +{
> +	struct coresight_device *csdev =
> +		container_of(work, struct coresight_device, free_work);
> +
> +	free_percpu(csdev->perf_sink_id_map.cpu_map);
> +	kfree(csdev);
> +}
> +
>  static void coresight_device_release(struct device *dev)
>  {
>  	struct coresight_device *csdev = to_coresight_device(dev);
>  
>  	fwnode_handle_put(csdev->dev.fwnode);
> -	free_percpu(csdev->perf_sink_id_map.cpu_map);
> -	kfree(csdev);
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * This release callback can run with the last reference dropped
> +	 * from atomic/IRQs-off context (e.g. coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()
> +	 * called from the CPU_PM notifier). free_percpu() takes pcpu_lock,
> +	 * which is a sleeping lock under PREEMPT_RT, so defer the actual
> +	 * teardown to process context.
> +	 */
> +	INIT_WORK(&csdev->free_work, coresight_device_release_work);
> +	schedule_work(&csdev->free_work);

[Severity: High]
Could scheduling this work on the global system_percpu_wq lead to a
use-after-free during module unload?

If the coresight module is unloaded while there is pending release work,
coresight_exit() does not appear to flush this workqueue or wait for
pending tasks to complete. 

If the module is unmapped before the asynchronous work executes, won't
the worker thread attempt to execute the unmapped 
coresight_device_release_work() address?

>  }

-- 
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260712210446.14290-1-mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com?part=1

Re: [PATCH] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_device_release()

[Jie Gan]

On 7/13/2026 5:04 AM, Mohamed Ayman wrote:
> Dropping the last reference to a coresight_device can trigger a kernel
> panic on PREEMPT_RT builds due to a "scheduling while atomic" violation.
> 
> When the CPU enters an idle state, coresight_cpu_pm_notify() is invoked
> with local interrupts disabled (atomic context). This function eventually
> calls coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(), which drops the device reference
> via put_device(). If this is the last reference, it triggers the release
> chain:
> 
>    coresight_cpu_pm_notify() (IRQs off)
>      -> coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()
>        -> put_device()
>          -> coresight_device_release()
>            -> free_percpu()
> 
> On a PREEMPT_RT kernel, free_percpu() acquires pcpu_lock, which is
> implemented as a sleeping rt-mutex. Sleeping while in an atomic context
> causes a system crash.
> 
> Fix this by deferring the teardown of the coresight_device to process
> context. Add a work_struct to `struct coresight_device` and use
> schedule_work() inside coresight_device_release() to safely execute
> free_percpu() and kfree() in a worker thread, away from the atomic PM
> notifier path.
> 
> Additionally, remove the redundant raw_spinlock_irqsave guard in

The code diff doesnt include this description.

> coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(). The lock was originally intended to
> protect the per-CPU pointer table, but dropping a reference does not
> touch this table.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Mohamed Ayman <mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com>
> ---
>   drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c | 28 +++++++++++++-------
>   include/linux/coresight.h                    |  2 ++
>   2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> index 6d65c43d5..9dbdb2977 100644
> --- a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> +++ b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> @@ -165,13 +165,6 @@ void coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(struct coresight_device *csdev)
>   
>   	guard(raw_spinlock_irqsave)(&coresight_dev_lock);
>   
> -	/*
> -	 * TODO: coresight_device_release() is invoked to release resources when
> -	 * the device's refcount reaches zero. It then calls free_percpu(),
> -	 * which acquires pcpu_lock — a sleepable lock when PREEMPT_RT is
> -	 * enabled. Since the raw spinlock coresight_dev_lock is held, this can
> -	 * lead to a potential "scheduling while atomic" issue.
> -	 */
>   	put_device(&csdev->dev);
>   }
>   
> @@ -1257,13 +1250,30 @@ static void coresight_clear_default_sink(struct coresight_device *csdev)
>   	}
>   }
>   
> +static void coresight_device_release_work(struct work_struct *work)
> +{
> +	struct coresight_device *csdev =
> +		container_of(work, struct coresight_device, free_work);
> +
> +	free_percpu(csdev->perf_sink_id_map.cpu_map);
> +	kfree(csdev);
> +}
> +
>   static void coresight_device_release(struct device *dev)
>   {
>   	struct coresight_device *csdev = to_coresight_device(dev);
>   
>   	fwnode_handle_put(csdev->dev.fwnode);
> -	free_percpu(csdev->perf_sink_id_map.cpu_map);
> -	kfree(csdev);
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * This release callback can run with the last reference dropped
> +	 * from atomic/IRQs-off context (e.g. coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()
> +	 * called from the CPU_PM notifier). free_percpu() takes pcpu_lock,
> +	 * which is a sleeping lock under PREEMPT_RT, so defer the actual
> +	 * teardown to process context.
> +	 */
> +	INIT_WORK(&csdev->free_work, coresight_device_release_work);
> +	schedule_work(&csdev->free_work);

Consider the module unload process, the async work can lead to UAF:
For example:

1. unload ETM4X module:
coresight_unregister() -> device_unregister() -> put_device() -> ref 0
-> coresight_device_release() -> schedule_work(&csdev->free_work)

At this point, the release work is only queued, while the ETM4X module 
unload path proceeds as if the release operation has finished.

2. unload the coresight module without flushing the workqueue
3. A UAF occurs when the pending work is eventually executed and 
attempts to free csdev via coresight_device_release_work(), after the 
relevant code or resources have already been unloaded.

We must drain out the workqueue in coresight_exit to close the gap.

Thanks,
Jie

>   }
>   
>   static int coresight_orphan_match(struct device *dev, void *data)
> diff --git a/include/linux/coresight.h b/include/linux/coresight.h
> index ddf18c970..63253f6c4 100644
> --- a/include/linux/coresight.h
> +++ b/include/linux/coresight.h
> @@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
>   #include <linux/perf_event.h>
>   #include <linux/sched.h>
>   #include <linux/platform_device.h>
> +#include <linux/workqueue.h>
>   
>   /* Peripheral id registers (0xFD0-0xFEC) */
>   #define CORESIGHT_PERIPHIDR4	0xfd0
> @@ -293,6 +294,7 @@ struct coresight_device {
>   	struct csdev_access access;
>   	struct device dev;
>   	struct coresight_path *path;
> +	struct work_struct free_work;
>   	atomic_t mode;
>   	int refcnt;
>   	int cpu;

[PATCH v2] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()

[Mohamed Ayman]

Dropping the last reference to a coresight_device triggers a kernel panic
on PREEMPT_RT builds due to a "scheduling while atomic" violation.

During CPU idle transitions, coresight_cpu_pm_notify() runs with
interrupts disabled. It eventually calls put_device(), which can
synchronously trigger the device's release callback and drop the parent
device's reference. On PREEMPT_RT, free_percpu() takes a sleeping lock
(rt-mutex), and the parent's release callback might also sleep. Sleeping
in this atomic PM context crashes the system.

A previous patch tried deferring just the coresight_device_release() body,
but this still left the synchronous put_device() call dangerously exposed
to sleeping parent release functions.

Fix this by entirely deferring the put_device() call to process context.
We add a pending counter (put_pending) and a work_struct to the coresight
device. When releasing a reference, we increment the counter and queue
the work. A worker thread then safely drains the counter and calls
put_device(). The counter prevents leaking references if multiple puts
are queued before the worker even has a chance to run.

To prevent a use-after-free race condition during module unload, the work
is queued on a dedicated coresight_wq which is safely drained and
destroyed in coresight_exit().

Finally, remove the unnecessary raw_spinlock_irqsave in the put path,
as dropping a reference doesn't require protecting the per-CPU table.

Signed-off-by: Mohamed Ayman <mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com>
---
 drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c | 37 ++++++++++++++------
 include/linux/coresight.h                    |  3 ++
 2 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
index 6d65c43d5..e931e6bdc 100644
--- a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
+++ b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ static LIST_HEAD(coresight_dev_idx_list);
 
 static const struct cti_assoc_op *cti_assoc_ops;
 
+static struct workqueue_struct *coresight_wq;
+
 static struct coresight_node *
 coresight_path_first_node(struct coresight_path *path)
 {
@@ -132,6 +134,16 @@ static void coresight_clear_percpu_source(struct coresight_device *csdev)
 	per_cpu(csdev_source, csdev->cpu) = NULL;
 }
 
+static void coresight_put_device_work(struct work_struct *work)
+{
+	struct coresight_device *csdev =
+		container_of(work, struct coresight_device, put_work);
+	int n = atomic_xchg(&csdev->put_pending, 0);
+
+	while (n--)
+		put_device(&csdev->dev);
+}
+
 struct coresight_device *coresight_get_percpu_source_ref(int cpu)
 {
 	struct coresight_device *csdev;
@@ -163,16 +175,9 @@ void coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(struct coresight_device *csdev)
 	if (!csdev || !coresight_is_percpu_source(csdev))
 		return;
 
-	guard(raw_spinlock_irqsave)(&coresight_dev_lock);
+	atomic_inc(&csdev->put_pending);
 
-	/*
-	 * TODO: coresight_device_release() is invoked to release resources when
-	 * the device's refcount reaches zero. It then calls free_percpu(),
-	 * which acquires pcpu_lock — a sleepable lock when PREEMPT_RT is
-	 * enabled. Since the raw spinlock coresight_dev_lock is held, this can
-	 * lead to a potential "scheduling while atomic" issue.
-	 */
-	put_device(&csdev->dev);
+	queue_work(coresight_wq, &csdev->put_work);
 }
 
 struct coresight_device *coresight_get_source(struct coresight_path *path)
@@ -1563,6 +1568,9 @@ coresight_init_device(struct coresight_desc *desc)
 	csdev->dev.release = coresight_device_release;
 	csdev->dev.bus = &coresight_bustype;
 
+	INIT_WORK(&csdev->put_work, coresight_put_device_work);
+	atomic_set(&csdev->put_pending, 0);
+
 	return csdev;
 }
 
@@ -2090,9 +2098,13 @@ static int __init coresight_init(void)
 {
 	int ret;
 
+	coresight_wq = alloc_workqueue("coresight_wq", 0, 0);
+	if (!coresight_wq)
+		return -ENOMEM;
+
 	ret = bus_register(&coresight_bustype);
 	if (ret)
-		return ret;
+		goto exit_wq;
 
 	ret = etm_perf_init();
 	if (ret)
@@ -2121,6 +2133,8 @@ static int __init coresight_init(void)
 	etm_perf_exit();
 exit_bus_unregister:
 	bus_unregister(&coresight_bustype);
+exit_wq:
+	destroy_workqueue(coresight_wq);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -2133,6 +2147,9 @@ static void __exit coresight_exit(void)
 	etm_perf_exit();
 	bus_unregister(&coresight_bustype);
 	coresight_release_device_list();
+
+	if (coresight_wq)
+		destroy_workqueue(coresight_wq);
 }
 
 module_init(coresight_init);
diff --git a/include/linux/coresight.h b/include/linux/coresight.h
index ddf18c970..589a6c20d 100644
--- a/include/linux/coresight.h
+++ b/include/linux/coresight.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <linux/perf_event.h>
 #include <linux/sched.h>
 #include <linux/platform_device.h>
+#include <linux/workqueue.h>
 
 /* Peripheral id registers (0xFD0-0xFEC) */
 #define CORESIGHT_PERIPHIDR4	0xfd0
@@ -293,6 +294,8 @@ struct coresight_device {
 	struct csdev_access access;
 	struct device dev;
 	struct coresight_path *path;
+	struct work_struct put_work;
+	atomic_t put_pending;
 	atomic_t mode;
 	int refcnt;
 	int cpu;
-- 
2.34.1

Re: [PATCH v2] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()

[sashiko-bot]

Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 2 potential issue(s) to consider:
- [High] Queuing work during CPU idle entry wakes a kworker and sets TIF_NEED_RESCHED on a CPU entering deep sleep, violating scheduler invariants.
- [High] A race condition between atomic_inc() and queue_work() leads to a Use-After-Free (UAF) of the coresight device.
--

--- Patch [1]: [PATCH v2] coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_put_percpu_source_ref() ---
commit c63df14eb6cc796f6fe14d3388c86e37be66c857
Author: Mohamed Ayman <mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com>

coresight: Fix scheduling while atomic in coresight_put_percpu_source_ref()

This commit fixes a "scheduling while atomic" panic on PREEMPT_RT by
deferring the put_device() call to a dedicated workqueue. It introduces
a put_pending atomic counter and a work_struct to queue the release
safely in process context.

> diff --git a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> index 6d65c43d574fd..e931e6bdc84fa 100644
> --- a/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
> +++ b/drivers/hwtracing/coresight/coresight-core.c
[ ... ]
> @@ -163,16 +175,9 @@ void coresight_put_percpu_source_ref(struct coresight_device *csdev)
>  	if (!csdev || !coresight_is_percpu_source(csdev))
>  		return;
>  
> -	guard(raw_spinlock_irqsave)(&coresight_dev_lock);
> +	atomic_inc(&csdev->put_pending);
>  
> -	/*
> -	 * TODO: coresight_device_release() is invoked to release resources when
> -	 * the device's refcount reaches zero. It then calls free_percpu(),
> -	 * which acquires pcpu_lock — a sleepable lock when PREEMPT_RT is
> -	 * enabled. Since the raw spinlock coresight_dev_lock is held, this can
> -	 * lead to a potential "scheduling while atomic" issue.
> -	 */
> -	put_device(&csdev->dev);
> +	queue_work(coresight_wq, &csdev->put_work);

[Severity: High]
Can a race condition here lead to a use-after-free of the coresight device?

If Thread A calls atomic_inc() and is preempted before calling queue_work(),
and Thread B then calls atomic_inc() and queue_work(), the worker thread
might execute coresight_put_device_work(), read the combined pending count,
and free the device before Thread A resumes.

When Thread A resumes, would it execute queue_work() using a pointer that
now resides in freed memory?

[Severity: High]
Does queuing work here violate scheduler invariants during CPU idle entry?

Since coresight_cpu_pm_notify() calls this during cpu_pm_enter() with
interrupts disabled, the CPU is already committed to sleeping. Calling
queue_work() on a bound workqueue wakes a local kworker, adding it to the
runqueue and setting TIF_NEED_RESCHED on the current CPU.

Will the CPU enter a deep hardware sleep with a runnable task on its runqueue,
delaying the execution of the kworker until an external hardware interrupt
wakes the CPU and breaking the invariant that nr_running must be 0 when
entering idle?

>  }

-- 
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260713230028.8046-1-mohamedaymanworkspace@gmail.com?part=1