Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's AMD graphics driver could allow a local user to crash the system. The issue occurs when a graphics card is disconnected or disabled, leaving behind a faulty internal communication channel. If an application then tries to use that channel, it triggers a system failure (null pointer dereference), potentially impacting system stability and availability.
Technical details
A vulnerability classified as a NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476) exists in the Linux kernel's amdgpu driver within the Display Manager (DM) component. The root cause is a failure to unregister the OEM I2C adapter during the GPU unbinding process (dm_hw_fini). When the GPU is unbound, the adapter remains in the system's I2C registry; subsequent attempts by user-space applications to access this invalid device trigger a null pointer dereference. This issue affects Linux kernel versions from 6.15 up to 6.16.8 and has been resolved in version 6.17 and stable backports.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel 6.15 to 6.16.8
Timeline
- 2025-10-01: disclosed
- 2025-09-19: patched: Patched in stable branch via commit c686124bcf06253620790857ff462f00f3f7a4ab