fix

src/modules/node_info/files/ProcessManager.pm

@@ -112,7 +112,14 @@ sub notify_pve_mod_worker {
 # ============================================================================
 
 sub _worker_lock_file_exists {
-    return -f $pve_mod_worker_lock;
+    return 0 unless -f $pve_mod_worker_lock;
+    my $pid = read_lock_pid($pve_mod_worker_lock);
+    if (defined $pid && $pid =~ /^(\d+)$/ && is_process_alive($1)) {
+        return 1;
+    }
+    debug(__LINE__, "Stale or zombie worker lock found, removing it");
+    unlink($pve_mod_worker_lock);
+    return 0;
 }
 
 # Forks the worker process and records its PID in the lock file.

src/modules/node_info/files/Utils.pm

@@ -91,7 +91,15 @@ sub read_sysfs {
 
 sub is_process_alive {
     my ($pid) = @_;
-    return -d "/proc/$pid";
+    return 0 unless -d "/proc/$pid";
+    # A zombie still has /proc/<pid> but is dead - otherwise a stale
+    # worker lock is never cleaned up.
+    if (open my $fh, '<', "/proc/$pid/stat") {
+        my $line = <$fh>;
+        close $fh;
+        return 0 if defined $line && $line =~ /\)\s+Z\s/;
+    }
+    return 1;
 }
 
 sub read_lock_pid {