NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel xe VM teardown race
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The Linux kernel from 6.8 is affected. The xe DRM driver frees page tables during VM teardown before contested VMAs are unlinked, so a concurrent eviction of a shared buffer object can dereference a NULL page table root. A local user with low privileges can trigger this race, with high impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/xe/vm: nuke PTs only after unlinking contested VMAs In xe_vm_close_and_put(), external-BO VMAs are queued on the contested list for deferred destruction via xe_vma_destroy_unlocked(). However, xe_vm_pt_destroy() was previously invoked before processing contested VMAs, destroying vm->pt_root while those VMAs were still linked to their respective buffer objects (vm_bo->list.gpuva). If a concurrent thread evicts one of those shared buffer objects, xe_bo_trigger_rebind() holding only bo->resv walks the BO's VMAs and, in fault mode, calls xe_vm_invalidate_vma() -> xe_pt_zap_ptes(). Because vm->pt_root[tile->id] is already NULL, dereferencing pt->level causes a NULL ptr deref. Fix this by deferring xe_vm_free_scratch() and xe_vm_pt_destroy() until after all contested VMAs have been unlinked and destroyed. User is reporting hitting a NULL ptr deref in xe_pt_zap_ptes(), which could be explained by this race. (cherry picked from commit c2863648959489767f08892fd6e90577d2ea0b6a)
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Update the Linux kernel to 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 or 7.3, depending on the branch in use. Red Hat lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 as affected with no fix available (plan none available).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Not affected: 5 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98510
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-p8r6-wxq7-5fv3
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux vulnerabilities
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- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
Sources
- CVE-2026-98510 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98510 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-p8r6-wxq7-5fv3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98510 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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