# CVE-2025-39780: sched/ext: Fix invalid task state transitions on class switch

> A flaw in the Linux kernel's sched_ext scheduler causes invalid task state transitions, potentially leading to system warnings or instability when enabling the scheduler.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 11 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-39780, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39780, GHSA-6rhw-qcc5-9qm4, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-39780, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39780

## What is CVE-2025-39780?

CVE-2025-39780 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 11 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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

sched/ext: Fix invalid task state transitions on class switch

When enabling a sched_ext scheduler, we may trigger invalid task state
transitions, resulting in warnings like the following (which can be
easily reproduced by running the hotplug selftest in a loop):

 sched_ext: Invalid task state transition 0 -> 3 for fish[770]
 WARNING: CPU: 18 PID: 787 at kernel/sched/ext.c:3862 scx_set_task_state+0x7c/0xc0
 ...
 RIP: 0010:scx_set_task_state+0x7c/0xc0
 ...
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  scx_enable_task+0x11f/0x2e0
  switching_to_scx+0x24/0x110
  scx_enable.isra.0+0xd14/0x13d0
  bpf_struct_ops_link_create+0x136/0x1a0
  __sys_bpf+0x1edd/0x2c30
  __x64_sys_bpf+0x21/0x30
  do_syscall_64+0xbb/0x370
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f

This happens because we skip initialization for tasks that are already
dead (with their usage counter set to zero), but we don't exclude them
during the scheduling class transition phase.

Fix this by also skipping dead tasks during class swiching, preventing
invalid task state transitions.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-39780?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-39780?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-39780 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39780 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-39780 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-39780 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 11 Sep 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39780 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39780/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39780/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-39780
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39780
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-39780

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39780/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.