Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Intel graphics driver could cause a system crash (kernel panic) under specific configurations. This occurs when high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) features attempt to access media components that have been disabled by the system administrator. While primarily an availability issue, such crashes can disrupt operations and lead to data loss on affected workstations or servers using Intel Xe graphics.
Technical details
A NULL pointer dereference exists in the 'intel_hdcp_gsc_check_status' function within the 'drm/xe/hdcp' driver. When the media Graphics Technology (GT) is disabled via configfs, the 'media_gt' pointer remains NULL. The driver fails to validate this pointer before attempting to access '>->uc.gsc', resulting in a kernel page fault. This vulnerability can be triggered locally if a user or process interacts with display components while the specific hardware configuration is active. The issue has been resolved by adding a NULL check for 'media_gt' and bailing out early if it is not present.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel v6.10+
Timeline
- 2026-04-16: other: Initial patch authored
- 2026-05-05: patched: Patch committed to maintainer tree
- 2026-05-28: advisory: CVE published