Executive brief
A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's Intel Xe graphics driver could allow for improper memory management during system suspend operations. An optimization intended to speed up the suspend process incorrectly bypassed necessary GPU cleanup tasks, potentially leading to memory errors or system instability. This issue primarily affects systems using Intel GPUs supported by the 'xe' driver.
Technical details
A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's 'xe' DRM driver due to an 'idle-skip' optimization in the execution queue suspend logic. When an execution queue is idle during a suspend operation, the driver was skipping the GuC (Graphics microController) suspend sequence. This bypass prevented the GPU from performing a context switch required to flush Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) entries for invalidated userptr Virtual Memory Areas (VMAs). In configurations using Long Running (LR) or preempt-fence VM modes, this results in missed TLB invalidations, which can be triggered during userptr invalidation tests, leading to page faults. The fix involves reverting the optimization to ensure unconditional schedule toggling and proper TLB flushing during suspend.
Affected products
- Linux Linux Kernel v7.0 to v7.0.13
Timeline
- 2026-06-03: patched: Fix committed to Linux stable tree.
- 2026-06-25: disclosed: CVE published.