Pin count leak in Linux kernel nouveau driver on failed re-pin
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The nouveau graphics driver in the Linux kernel is affected. When nouveau_bo_pin_locked() re-pins an already pinned buffer into an incompatible memory domain, it returns an EBUSY error but still increments the pin count. Callers do not release that extra pin, which triggers a kernel warning in ttm_bo_release().
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
Description from the CNA
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/nouveau: don't bump pin count on failed re-pin in nouveau_bo_pin_locked() nouveau_bo_pin_locked() checks whether an already pinned BO is in a memory domain compatible with a new pin request. When the domains are incompatible, it sets -EBUSY but still calls ttm_bo_pin() before returning. Callers treat a failed nouveau_bo_pin() as not having acquired a new pin, so the extra pin count is never decreased by a matching unpin. This triggers the warning in ttm_bo_release(): WARN_ON_ONCE(bo->pin_count); Found when fuzzing the nouveau driver with a modified Syzkaller: WARNING: drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:256 at ttm_bo_release+0x827/0x9e0 drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:256, CPU#1: syz.3.24/2212 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 2212 Comm: syz.3.24 Not tainted 7.2.0 #24 PREEMPT(lazy) nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gsp:msg fn:103 len:0x40/0x20 res:0x19 resp:0x19 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:ttm_bo_release+0x827/0x9e0 drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:256 Code: 02 00 0f 85 51 01 00 00 48 8b 7b 08 e8 d2 20 01 00 e9 80 fd ff ff e8 d8 15 c0 fe 90 0f 0b 90 e9 e1 f8 ff ff e8 ca 15 c0 fe 90 <0f> 0b 90 e9 a4 f8 ff ff e8 bc 15 c0 fe be 03 00 00 00 4c 89 e7 e8 msg: 00000000: 05 00 d0 c1 04 00 f0 f1 01 30 00 00 2d 90 00 00 .........0..-... RSP: 0018:ffffc9000f5cf710 EFLAGS: 00010293 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff888018e5d2a8 RCX: ffffffff82bb1b36 RDX: ffff888017b68000 RSI: 0000000000000004 RDI: ffff888018e5d2a8 msg: 00000010: 19 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ RBP: ffff88801261c720 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffed10031cba55 R10: ffff888018e5d2ab R11: 00000000000000f3 R12: ffff888018e5d290 R13: ffff888018e5d2d4 R14: ffff88801b219c18 R15: dffffc0000000000 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880e0f6f000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 0000001b31223ffc CR3: 0000000028e00005 CR4: 0000000000770ef0 PKRU: 80000000 Call Trace: <TASK> kref_put include/linux/kref.h:65 [inline] ttm_bo_put drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:325 [inline] ttm_bo_fini+0x55/0x80 drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:330 nouveau_gem_object_del+0xb2/0x1b0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c:90 drm_gem_object_free+0x5f/0x90 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gem.c:1165 kref_put include/linux/kref.h:65 [inline] __drm_gem_object_put include/drm/drm_gem.h:562 [inline] drm_gem_object_put include/drm/drm_gem.h:575 [inline] nouveau_abi16_chan_fini.constprop.0+0x44f/0x5a0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_abi16.c:195 nouveau 0000:01:00.0: syz.2.23[2209]: Unknown handle 0x00000000 nouveau_abi16_fini+0x1d0/0x340 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_abi16.c:225 nouveau_drm_postclose+0x18b/0x3e0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_drm.c:1284 nouveau 0000:01:00.0: syz.2.23[2209]: validate_init drm_file_free.part.0+0x6d6/0xb60 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_file.c:267 drm_file_free drivers/gpu/drm/drm_file.c:237 [inline] drm_close_helper.isra.0+0x11a/0x160 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_file.c:290 drm_release+0x1ab/0x330 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_file.c:438 __fput+0x39c/0xa60 fs/file_table.c:512 nouveau 0000:01:00.0: syz.2.23[2209]: validate: -2 task_work_run+0x15a/0x230 kernel/task_work.c:233 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:40 [inline] do_exit+0x82b/0x25a0 kernel/exit.c:1009 do_group_exit+0xc2/0x280 kernel/exit.c:1152 get_signal+0x1d6e/0x1f30 kernel/signal.c:3046 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x7d/0x6e0 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c:337 __exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:66 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_loop+0xdf/0x440 kernel/entry/common.c:101 __exit_to_user_mode_prepare include/linux/irq-entry-common.h:207 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode_prepare include/linux/irq-entry-common.h:230 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode include/linux/entry-common.h:318 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x4f8/0x690 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:100 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RI ---truncated---
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
Upgrade the Linux kernel to 5.10.273, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 or 7.3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 has no fix planned, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, 9 and 10 and OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 have no fix available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.273, 5.15.222, 6.1.189, 6.6.158, 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 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | 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: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98511
- 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-g9v8-hx8g-hw7q
- 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
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@6d6e9291413fda06588846cbbf09b789a0e948fa · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6d6e9291413fda06588846cbbf09b789a0e948fa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a6e755acf85793a7b4d29ba27b5421af1087263f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5cb7109f0f5f1b47b172e2d5b868d4ce3ae687f8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9924c1d64405be8d10b906368dfb1cfe0d0c6bf0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/73c7093e6cc1e6b181a79e16eccc4b8d4f34d8ee
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/19f5a5839b308697824ff46e6213a2b4cb677771
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/189ffc7b6cad6390c0695031cb6c7c63472981e8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a6870d3077faa501ca97760057ddca22b68418d
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Sources
- CVE-2026-98511 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-98511 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-g9v8-hx8g-hw7q · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-98511 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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