In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: acpi/apei/ghes: Use raw_spinlock_t for CXL CPER work locks The CXL CPER work registration and unregistration helpers acquire cxl_cper_work_lock and cxl_cper_prot_err_w…

Overview

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

acpi/apei/ghes: Use raw_spinlock_t for CXL CPER work locks

The CXL CPER work registration and unregistration helpers acquire cxl_cper_work_lock and cxl_cper_prot_err_work_lock with a spinlock guard(), which leaves local interrupts enabled. The corresponding post paths (cxl_cper_post_event(), cxl_cper_post_prot_err()) execute in hard IRQ context (they are called from the GHES error notification path) and acquire the same locks with an irqsave guard().

If a CPU is holding one of these locks via a spinlock guard() when a GHES interrupt arrives on the same CPU, the IRQ handler spins on the held lock waiting for it to release, while the lock holder is preempted by the IRQ. The result is a deadlock.

Convert both locks from spinlock_t to raw_spinlock_t and use guard() at all call sites. On PREEMPT_RT kernels spinlock_t is backed by rt_mutex and sleeping from hard IRQ context is not permitted; raw_spinlock_t is safe in both contexts.

Add WARN_ONCE to both register functions to surface double-registration bugs at runtime.

Restructure both unregister functions to clear the global work pointer under the lock before calling cancel_work_sync(), closing the window where a CPER interrupt could schedule work on a pointer about to be freed. Add kfifo_reset() after cancel_work_sync() so stale entries are not replayed on next module load.

Both kfifos are single-consumer: only one work_struct is registered at a time, enforced by the WARN_ONCE guard in the register functions. kfifo_reset() is safe outside the lock because cancel_work_sync() has already quiesced the consumer, and no new consumer can register until the current module exit completes and a fresh module init runs.

Remove the redundant cancel_work_sync() call from cxl_ras_exit() and cxl_pci_driver_exit(). The CPER unregister functions now quiesce the work internally.

Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

Vendor advisories

• Red Hat VEX · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-09-21 · vex