Incorrect Synchronization Affecting kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 package, versions <1:1.0-0.amzn2023


Severity

Recommended
high

Based on Amazon Linux security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
0.13% (3rd percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-AMZN2023-KERNELLIVEPATCH6182020229-16881935
  • published27 May 2026
  • disclosed8 May 2026

Introduced: 8 May 2026

CVE-2026-43392  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-821  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Amazon-Linux:2023 kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 to version 1:1.0-0.amzn2023 or higher.
This issue was patched in ALAS2023-2026-1596.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 package and not the kernel-livepatch-6.18.20-20.229 package as distributed by Amazon-Linux. See How to fix? for Amazon-Linux:2023 relevant fixed versions and status.

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

sched_ext: Fix starvation of scx_enable() under fair-class saturation

During scx_enable(), the READY -> ENABLED task switching loop changes the calling thread's sched_class from fair to ext. Since fair has higher priority than ext, saturating fair-class workloads can indefinitely starve the enable thread, hanging the system. This was introduced when the enable path switched from preempt_disable() to scx_bypass() which doesn't protect against fair-class starvation. Note that the original preempt_disable() protection wasn't complete either - in partial switch modes, the calling thread could still be starved after preempt_enable() as it may have been switched to ext class.

Fix it by offloading the enable body to a dedicated system-wide RT (SCHED_FIFO) kthread which cannot be starved by either fair or ext class tasks. scx_enable() lazily creates the kthread on first use and passes the ops pointer through a struct scx_enable_cmd containing the kthread_work, then synchronously waits for completion.

The workfn runs on a different kthread from sch->helper (which runs disable_work), so it can safely flush disable_work on the error path without deadlock.

CVSS Base Scores

version 3.1