Executive brief
A vulnerability was identified in the Linux kernel's AMD graphics driver (amdgpu). The issue occurs when the system attempts to suspend or unplug an AMD graphics card, potentially allowing a local user to cause a system crash or execute unauthorized code. This could impact system availability and the security of data processed by the graphics hardware.
Technical details
This is a use-after-free (UAF) vulnerability in the Linux kernel's DRM driver for AMD GPUs (amdgpu). The flaw is located in the amdgpu_userq_suspend function and is triggered during hardware finalization (amdgpu_device_fini_hw) or PCI device removal (amdgpu_pci_remove). A local attacker with low privileges could potentially exploit this race condition or improper reference counting during device unplug/suspend events to cause a kernel panic (DoS) or achieve local privilege escalation. The issue has been resolved in the stable kernel tree via commits 96f663ae897b3e6ac17ced1d9b9c2ae9f165ad9a and a886d26f2c8f9e3f3c1869ae368d09c75daac553.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 6.14.0+; 6.16; versions prior to 96f663a and a886d26
Timeline
- 2025-08-19: advisory: CVE-2025-38598 published by NVD
- 2025-08-15: patched: Fix committed to Linux stable tree