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CVE-2026-98180

drm/msm: RCU-free the scheduler-containing ring and VM objects

7.1 EPSS 0.1% AV:L

Published 2026-10-06 (13 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/gpu. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.

What to do, per Debian release

Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98180 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source

Release	Status	Version	What this means
Debian 12bookworm	vulnerable	6.1.190-1	No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication.
Debian 13trixie	vulnerable	6.12.113-1	No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series trixie tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for trixie have historically landed a median of 11 days after publication.
Debian 14forky	fixed	7.2.8-1	Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.8-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.
Debian unstablesid	fixed	7.2.8-1	Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.8-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts.

The vulnerability

What the bug is

Both struct msm_ringbuffer and struct msm_gem_vm embed a struct drm_gpu_scheduler. msm_ringbuffer_destroy() and the VM free callback msm_gem_vm_free() call drm_sched_fini() on the embedded scheduler and then free the containing object with plain kfree(). drm_sched_fence_get_timeline_name() returns fence->sched->name, and the scheduler fence keeps a .release callback so it is not ops-detached on signalling. A finished fence exported to userspace (the submit out-fence, or a VM_BIND fence, via sync_file / drm_syncobj) keeps pointing at the embedded scheduler after the ring/VM is freed, so a later get_timeline_name() -- reachable unprivileged through SYNC_IOC_FILE_INFO -- dereferences freed slab memory (KASAN slab-use-after-free read). Per the dma-fence lifetime contract the exporter must keep the data backing a signalled fence alive for an RCU grace period. Free the scheduler-containing objects with kfree_rcu() instead of kfree(). Patchwork: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/750234/

Where it lives

The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.

drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem.h
drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem_vma.c
drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_ringbuffer.c
drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_ringbuffer.h

What this is: DRM DRIVER for Qualcomm display hardwareMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/gpu/drm/msm/ · linux-arm-msm@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
Kernel module: msm

Check it on the machine

grep -w CONFIG_DRM_MSM /boot/config-$(uname -r)

Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.

lsmod | grep -w msm

Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.

Show whether Debian builds this, per release

Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed.

bookwormMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, i386/686, i386/686-pae, i386/rt/686-pae, ppc64el/powerpc64le
trixieMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt/amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x
forky, sidMnot built on amd64/amd64, amd64/cloud-amd64, amd64/rt-amd64, arm64/cloud-arm64, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, loong64/loong64, ppc64el/powerpc64le, ppc64el/powerpc64le-64k, riscv64/riscv64, s390x/s390x

M: a module where it is built at all; some flavours do not build it

Build switch: CONFIG_DRM_MSM

From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages

Debian tracker CVE record NVD kernel CNA record

Signals

Published: 2026-10-06 (13 days ago)source
CVSS: 7.1 high
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Hsource recompute it
Attack vector: local (AV:L)source
EPSS: 0.12%, higher than 1.7% of all CVEssource
CISA KEV: not listedthe KEV catalogue
Debian urgency: not yet assignedsource
Subsystem: drivers/gpu

Upstream fixes

The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source

Introduced	Fixed in	Commit
5.15	6.18.54	d81bf4581903
5.15	7.2.8	713abac5c04c
5.15	7.3	01c8d1f385f7

Why the CNA scored it this way

Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source

AV:LAttack vector, local: The freed memory is reached by a local process through render-node ioctls (MSM_SET_PARAM to enable VM_BIND, MSM_VM_BIND/MSM_GEM_SUBMIT with an out-fence) followed by SYNC_IOC_FILE_INFO on the exported sync_file. No remote data is involved.
AC:LAttack complexity, low: The attacker runs every step: create a user-managed VM, submit a VM_BIND job with an out-fence fd, close the DRM fd so msm_gem_vm_close()/msm_gem_vm_free() kfree the VM, then query the sync_file. They choose when the free happens, so there is no race they can't control.
PR:LPrivileges required, low: All msm ioctls used are DRM_RENDER_ALLOW and the sync_file ioctl needs only the fd. An unprivileged user with render-node access (render group, or any Android app with GPU access) can do this without capabilities.
UI:NUser interaction, none: No victim action is needed. The attacker creates and frees the VM and queries the fence entirely through their own file descriptors.
S:UScope, unchanged: This is a use-after-free in the kernel's own memory with impact inside the same kernel authority. No VM, IOMMU or sandbox boundary is crossed.
C:HConfidentiality impact, high: drm_sched_fence_get_timeline_name() returns fence->sched->name from the freed msm_gem_vm. If the slab is refilled with attacker data, that name pointer is attacker-controlled, and sync_fill_fence_info() strscpy()s up to 32 bytes from that address into obj_name returned to userspace. That is a repeatable arbitrary kernel read.
I:NIntegrity impact, none: Nothing writes through the stale fence->sched: get_timeline_name only reads it and sched_entity.c only compares the pointer. The freed scheduler gives a read primitive, not a write or control-flow primitive.
A:HAvailability impact, high: Dereferencing freed or reclaimed memory and strscpy() from a bad name pointer causes a kernel oops/panic (KASAN slab-use-after-free read), which the attacker can trigger repeatedly.