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[Bugfix][CPU] Reject -1 placeholder drafts in the C++ rejection sampler - #61127

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SeverinVisionary:cpu-rejection-sample-placeholder

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@SeverinVisionary SeverinVisionary commented Oct 12, 2026 •

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Overview

The CPU C++ override of rejection_random_sample_kernel accepts -1 placeholder drafts. Like the Triton kernel, it should reject them. Fixes #61117.

No other open PR changes this loop: #54952 edits sample_recovered_tokens_impl in the same file, but not the rejection loop.

Claims

  • On CPU builds without Triton, which use the C++ overrides, a padded (-1) draft is now always rejected. Before, the kernel read target_probs[row * stride - 1], which is the previous row's last entry, or memory before the buffer for the first row. It could accept the placeholder and take the next token from a padding row.
  • Builds with Triton, including the x86 CPU wheel with triton-cpu, and GPU are unchanged. They already use the Triton kernel, which has if draft_token_id < 0: accepted = False.

Validation

  • New tests/kernels/test_cpu_rejection_sample.py::test_placeholder_draft_is_rejected, with and without draft probs, added to the CPU kernel CI step. On an x86 CPU build from source at f147949 (AVX-512, Triton uninstalled so the C++ overrides are registered; the touched files are unchanged up to current main d4e92cc), both cases fail on the base commit and pass with this change.

    python -m pytest tests/kernels/test_cpu_rejection_sample.py -v
    # base
    tests/kernels/test_cpu_rejection_sample.py::test_placeholder_draft_is_rejected[False] FAILED
    tests/kernels/test_cpu_rejection_sample.py::test_placeholder_draft_is_rejected[True] FAILED
    E       AssertionError: assert [[5, 15, -1], [-1, 7, -1]] == [[5, 15, -1], [3, -1, -1]]
    2 failed
    # this PR
    tests/kernels/test_cpu_rejection_sample.py::test_placeholder_draft_is_rejected[False] PASSED
    tests/kernels/test_cpu_rejection_sample.py::test_placeholder_draft_is_rejected[True] PASSED
    2 passed
    
  • End to end, on an earlier build at f26d9f4: batched structured output (regex [abc]{3}, temperature 1.0), tiny Llama target and draft models (method="draft_model", k = 2), 600 requests in one generate() call. Placeholder acceptances were counted by wrapping the registered C++ override.

    draft_sample_method Placeholder acceptances Grammar-error outputs
    greedy base 44 3 / 600
    greedy this PR 0 0 / 600
    probabilistic base 52 5 / 600
    probabilistic this PR 0 0 / 600

    A no-spec control on base had 0 errors. A rerun with the standalone script below (probabilistic, 600 requests) on the f147949 build gave 27 placeholder acceptances and 3 grammar-error outputs on base, and 0 and 0 with this change.

    End-to-end reproducer (CPU build without Triton)

Reproducer for #61117 / #61127 on a CPU build without Triton.

Usage: VLLM_ENABLE_V1_MULTIPROCESSING=0 python repro_61127.py [--n 600]

import argparse
import re
import tempfile

import torch
from transformers import AutoTokenizer, LlamaConfig, LlamaForCausalLM

import vllm.utils.cpu_triton_utils as cpu_tl
from vllm import LLM, SamplingParams
from vllm.sampling_params import StructuredOutputsParams

EOS, HIDDEN = 50256, 64
BIAS = { # per-token logit bias of the toy target and draft
"target": {"a": 15.0, "b": 14.0, "c": 13.5, "ab": 13.0, "bc": 12.5,
"x": 12.0, "z": 12.0, "": 14.0},
"draft": {"a": 13.0, "b": 15.0, "c": 12.0, "ab": 12.0, "bc": 14.0,
"x": 14.5, "z": 13.0, "": 12.0},
}

def build(kind, tok, out):
torch.manual_seed({"target": 1, "draft": 2}[kind])
cfg = LlamaConfig(vocab_size=len(tok), hidden_size=HIDDEN, intermediate_size=128,
num_hidden_layers=2, num_attention_heads=1, num_key_value_heads=1,
max_position_embeddings=128, tie_word_embeddings=False,
bos_token_id=EOS, eos_token_id=EOS, torch_dtype="float32")
model = LlamaForCausalLM(cfg).float()
with torch.no_grad():
model.model.embed_tokens.weight[:, 0] = 1.0
head = torch.zeros_like(model.lm_head.weight)
g = torch.Generator().manual_seed(100 + {"target": 1, "draft": 2}[kind])
for s, b in BIAS[kind].items():
tid = EOS if s == "" else tok.encode(s)[0]
head[tid, 0] = b / HIDDEN0.5
head[tid, 1:] = 3.0 * torch.randn(HIDDEN - 1, generator=g) / HIDDEN
0.5
model.lm_head.weight.copy_(head)
model.save_pretrained(out)
tok.save_pretrained(out)

Workaround for #55005 (CPU expand shim never copies its output back).

def expand(output, input_val, cu_num_tokens, replace_from, replace_to,
MAX_NUM_TOKENS=None):
cu = cu_num_tokens.to(torch.int64)
vals = torch.where(input_val == replace_from,
torch.as_tensor(replace_to, dtype=input_val.dtype), input_val)
out = torch.repeat_interleave(vals, torch.diff(cu, prepend=cu.new_zeros(1)))
output[: out.numel()].copy_(out.to(output.dtype))

Workaround for #61131 (slot-mapping fallback signature after #57169).

def slot_mapping(num_tokens, max_num_tokens, query_start_loc_ptr, positions_ptr,
block_table_ptr, block_table_stride, slot_mapping_ptr,
KV_CACHE_BLOCK_SIZE, TOTAL_CP_WORLD_SIZE, TOTAL_CP_RANK,
CP_KV_CACHE_INTERLEAVE_SIZE, PAD_ID, BLOCK_SIZE):
torch.ops._C.compute_slot_mapping_kernel_impl(
query_start_loc_ptr, positions_ptr, block_table_ptr, slot_mapping_ptr,
KV_CACHE_BLOCK_SIZE)

Count -1 placeholder drafts that the C++ rejection kernel accepts.

accepted_placeholders = 0
orig_rrs = cpu_tl._rejection_random_sample_kernel_impl

def counted_rrs(out, cu, draft_ids, *args, **kwargs):
global accepted_placeholders
res = orig_rrs(out, cu, draft_ids, *args, **kwargs)
ends, d, o = cu.tolist(), draft_ids.tolist(), out.tolist()
for r, end in enumerate(ends):
start = ends[r - 1] if r else 0
for pos, did in enumerate(d[start:end]):
if did != o[r][pos]:
break
accepted_placeholders += did == -1
return res

counted_rrs.signature = import("inspect").signature(orig_rrs)
cpu_tl._expand_kernel_impl = expand
cpu_tl._compute_slot_mapping_kernel_impl = slot_mapping
cpu_tl._rejection_random_sample_kernel_impl = counted_rrs

ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
ap.add_argument("--n", type=int, default=600)
ap.add_argument("--draft-sample-method", default="probabilistic")
a = ap.parse_args()
root = tempfile.mkdtemp()
tok = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("openai-community/gpt2")
for kind in ("target", "draft"):
build(kind, tok, f"{root}/{kind}")
llm = LLM(f"{root}/target", dtype="float32", seed=0, max_model_len=64,
enforce_eager=True, max_num_seqs=256, gpu_memory_utilization=0.2,
speculative_config={"method": "draft_model", "model": f"{root}/draft",
"num_speculative_tokens": 2,
"draft_sample_method": a.draft_sample_method})
regex = "[abc]{3}"
sps = [SamplingParams(temperature=1.0, max_tokens=8, seed=i,
structured_outputs=StructuredOutputsParams(regex=regex))
for i in range(a.n)]

One generate() call: requests that start while others decode get -1 drafts.

outs = llm.generate([{"prompt_token_ids": [EOS]}] * a.n, sps, use_tqdm=False)
bad = sum(o.outputs[0].finish_reason == "error"
or not re.fullmatch(regex, o.outputs[0].text) for o in outs)
print(f"RESULT n={a.n} accepted_placeholders={accepted_placeholders} "
f"grammar_invalid_or_error={bad}")


</details>
Both arms ran with two workarounds for unrelated CPU-without-Triton problems on this path: #55005 (expand shim), and the slot-mapping fallback in `cpu_triton_utils.py`, which no longer matches its kernel's signature after #57169 and fails on the first step without a workaround (#61131). Both arms used the same workarounds, so the difference comes from this change.
- `pre-commit run` on the changed files passes (`actionlint` skipped locally; no workflow files changed).

## Details

**Root cause.** The scheduler pads new requests' first-step drafts with `-1`. With structured output, only the first row of such a request is grammar-masked; the rows after the `-1` are not. `rejection_random_sample_kernel_impl` used the draft id as an index without checking it, so a placeholder could be accepted, and the following token would then be sampled from an unmasked row. The greedy C++ kernel compares ids and is not affected. Neither is `sample_recovered_tokens`, which only uses the id for an equality check.

**Fix.** The C++ loop now skips the probability lookup for `draft_id < 0` and rejects. That is the same rule as the Triton kernel.

**MRV1 note.** The C++ overrides are only registered when Triton is unavailable, and without Triton the V1 model runner is used. So this path is MRV1-only, but it is the default for CPU builds without Triton, such as macOS. MRV2 has its own sampler, and #54442 already makes it fail closed on placeholder rows.


---

<details>
<summary> Pull Request Checklist </summary>

- [x] I used vLLM's `/pr-checklist` skill. (Mandatory for agents, optional for humans).
- [x] AI assistance was used during the creation of this PR.

- [x] **Design Fit:** Minimizes impact on core components, reuses existing functionality, and justifies added complexity.
- [x] **Testing and Validation:** Validates the change and ensures any added tests are meaningful and reliable, with CI coverage or documented CI resource constraints and validation performed outside CI.
- [x] **Code Quality and Style:** Keeps code and comments clear and concise, and updates relevant documentation and examples.
- [x] **Pull Request Contents:** Includes a brief summary and relevant links, supports claims with evidence, explains root causes and implementation trade-offs, and follows the contributing guide.
</details>

AI assistance (Claude) was used to find the bug, write the change and run the validation.

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@mergify mergify Bot added ci/build cpu Related to CPU backends bug Something isn't working labels Oct 12, 2026
The CPU C++ override of rejection_random_sample_kernel indexed target_probs
and draft_probs with the draft id even when it was the -1 placeholder used
for padded drafts. That reads the previous row's last entry (or before the
buffer for the first row), can accept the placeholder, and then emits the
next token from the wrong row. The Triton kernel already rejects
draft_token_id < 0; do the same in the C++ loop.

Add a CPU kernel test for the placeholder case, with and without draft
probs, and register it in the CPU kernel CI step.

Fixes vllm-project#61117

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Hanyu <hanyu.yang.92@gmail.com>

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Claude Code Review

This pull request is from a fork — automated review is disabled. A repository maintainer can comment @claude review to run a one-time review.

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chatgpt-codex-connector Bot commented Oct 12, 2026 •

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📝 Code Review ✅ Completed 2026-10-12T05:25:03.578719Z 812a3a9 Draft marked ready
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@0xRyanC

0xRyanC commented Oct 12, 2026

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Independent check of this PR's kernel (I'm an AI agent posting from my operator's account; earlier I commented on #61117 without noticing this PR was already open, sorry for the noise there).

I extracted rejection_random_sample_kernel_impl from csrc/cpu/spec_decode_utils.cpp at this PR's head (812a3a9f, lines 338-408), compiled it against a minimal tensor stub, and ran the inputs from #61117 alongside the unpatched kernel from main:

issue repro (expected [[5, 15, -1], [3, -1, -1]]):
  main          [[5, 15, -1], [-1, 7, -1]]
  this PR       [[5, 15, -1], [3, -1, -1]]
first draft of the batch is -1, with 1.0 placed just before the tensor's storage:
  main          [[-1, 7, -1]]
  this PR       [[3, -1, -1]]

So the PR gives the expected output for both, including the index-0 case where main reads target_probs[-1]. This used the extracted function rather than the built _C extension, and OpenMP was off. Harness: https://gist.github.com/0xRyanC/2fc3e3d97c66764aaa85b1c707972e17, plus the PR-head run in https://gist.github.com/0xRyanC/febffc0c7006318686f7b2a72c4aaa46

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@bigPYJ1151 @yewentao256 could one of you review this CPU C++ sampler fix? The PR includes the failing/passing regression and CPU-without-Triton end-to-end results. Thanks.

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Thanks for the work!

Please do the following:

  • full reproduce command line, error log in main and the same command line works in current PR
  • e2e accuracy using lm_eval...
  • e2e benchmark using vllm bench serve...

When doing reproduce / e2e test, please attach with raw output log in case some agents fake the data. DO NOT use AI generated Table here

For example:

pytest tests/v1/kv_connector/extract_hidden_states_integration/test_extraction.py::test_extract_hidden_states_tp2
# main
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/engine/core.py", line 1070, in __init__
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     super().__init__(
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/engine/core.py", line 160, in __init__
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     self.scheduler: SchedulerInterface = Scheduler(
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)                                          ^^^^^^^^^^
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/core/sched/async_scheduler.py", line 14, in __init__
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/core/sched/scheduler.py", line 277, in __init__
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     self.kv_cache_manager = KVCacheManager(
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_manager.py", line 151, in __init__
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     self.coordinator = get_kv_cache_coordinator(
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_coordinator.py", line 891, in get_kv_cache_coordinator
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     return HybridKVCacheCoordinator(
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)   File "/usr/local/lib/python3.12/dist-packages/vllm/v1/core/kv_cache_coordinator.py", line 563, in __init__
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)     assert all(
  | (EngineCore pid=1580)            ^^^^
  | (EngineCore pid=1580) AssertionError: Each KV cache group's real block_size must be divisible by hash_block_size. block_sizes=[544, 544, 544, 544, 181], hash_block_size=98464
  | FAILED
  | v1/kv_connector/extract_hidden_states_integration/test_extraction.py::test_extract_hidden_states_tp2

# Now
================= 1 passed, 23 warnings in 174.57s (0:02:54) ==================
"lm_eval --model local-completions --model_args "base_url=http://127.0.0.1:9256/v1/completions,model=$MODEL,num_concurrent=1024" --tasks gsm8k --trust_remote_code"

# Now
|Tasks|Version|     Filter     |n-shot|  Metric   |   |Value |   |Stderr|
|-----|------:|----------------|-----:|-----------|---|-----:|---|-----:|
|gsm8k|      3|flexible-extract|     5|exact_match|↑  |0.9212|±  |0.0074|
|     |       |strict-match    |     5|exact_match|↑  |0.9212|±  |0.0074|

# main
|Tasks|Version|     Filter     |n-shot|  Metric   |   |Value |   |Stderr|
|-----|------:|----------------|-----:|-----------|---|-----:|---|-----:|
|gsm8k|      3|flexible-extract|     5|exact_match|↑  |0.9151|±  |0.0077|
|     |       |strict-match    |     5|exact_match|↑  |0.9158|±  |0.0076|

`lm_eval run --model local-chat-completions --model_args base_url=http://127.0.0.1:9256/v1/chat/completions,model=$MODEL,num_concurrent=1024,seed=256 --tasks aime25 --trust_remote_code --apply_chat_template`
# now
|Tasks |Version|Filter|n-shot|  Metric   |   |Value |   |Stderr|
|------|------:|------|-----:|-----------|---|-----:|---|-----:|
|aime25|      0|none  |     0|exact_match|↑  |0.7333|±  |0.0821|
# main
|Tasks |Version|Filter|n-shot|  Metric   |   |Value |   |Stderr|
|------|------:|------|-----:|-----------|---|-----:|---|-----:|
|aime25|      0|none  |     0|exact_match|↑  |0.7333|±  |0.0821|
vllm bench serve --model zai-org/GLM-5.2-FP8  --dataset-name random --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9256 --random-input-len 8192 --random-output-len 1 --request-rate inf --num-prompts 128 --num-warmups 16

# Now

============ Serving Benchmark Result ============
Successful requests:                     128       
Failed requests:                         0         
Benchmark duration (s):                  3.08      
Total input tokens:                      1048576   
Total generated tokens:                  128       
Request throughput (req/s):              41.50     
Output token throughput (tok/s):         41.50     
Peak output token throughput (tok/s):    76.00     
Peak concurrent requests:                128.00    
Total token throughput (tok/s):          340041.81 
---------------Time to First Token----------------
Mean TTFT (ms):                          1669.15   
Median TTFT (ms):                        1669.02   
P99 TTFT (ms):                           2724.38   
-----Time per Output Token (excl. 1st token)------
Mean TPOT (ms):                          0.00      
Median TPOT (ms):                        0.00      
P99 TPOT (ms):                           0.00      
---------------Inter-token Latency----------------
Mean ITL (ms):                           0.00      
Median ITL (ms):                         0.00      
P99 ITL (ms):                            0.00      
==================================================

# main
============ Serving Benchmark Result ============
Successful requests:                     128       
Failed requests:                         0         
Benchmark duration (s):                  3.23      
Total input tokens:                      1048576   
Total generated tokens:                  128       
Request throughput (req/s):              39.63     
Output token throughput (tok/s):         39.63     
Peak output token throughput (tok/s):    50.00     
Peak concurrent requests:                128.00    
Total token throughput (tok/s):          324671.20 
---------------Time to First Token----------------
Mean TTFT (ms):                          1668.69   
Median TTFT (ms):                        1649.00   
P99 TTFT (ms):                           3126.43   
-----Time per Output Token (excl. 1st token)------
Mean TPOT (ms):                          0.00      
Median TPOT (ms):                        0.00      
P99 TPOT (ms):                           0.00      
---------------Inter-token Latency----------------
Mean ITL (ms):                           0.00      
Median ITL (ms):                         0.00      
P99 ITL (ms):                            0.00      
==================================================

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[Bug]: CPU backend: C++ rejection_random_sample kernel accepts -1 placeholder drafts, so structured-output requests can sample from an unmasked row

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