Linux kernel: Use-after-free in nouveau DRM driver VM_BIND path
Summary
A use-after-free flaw in the nouveau DRM driver of the Linux kernel, which handles NVIDIA GPUs, occurs when a buffer object is held in system memory. An attacker with local, low-privileged access can trigger a read of freed kernel memory, which can crash the kernel or cause other memory-safety effects. The CVE record does not confirm code execution, and the attack requires local access on a host with the nouveau driver.
Affected
- Linux kernel 6.6 up to before 6.6.160
- Linux kernel 6.12 up to before 6.12.112
- Linux kernel 6.18 up to before 6.18.55
- Linux kernel 7.2 up to before 7.2.9
- Ranges as stated in the CNA record; distributions may differ. Mainline range not verified.
Fixed in
- Stable kernels 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.55, 7.2.9 and later
- Mainline fixed version: Unknown.
- Distribution fix status (Debian, Red Hat, SUSE, Amazon, Oracle): Unknown.
Workaround
- No vendor workaround known.
- Analyst option, not from a source: blacklist the nouveau module on hosts that do not need it. Test first, as graphics behaviour changes.
Exploitation
- No evidence of exploitation in the wild found.
- No public proof of concept found.
- EPSS 0.002 (very low predicted exploitation probability).
Our recommendation
- Install the kernel update from your distribution that contains the fix, and verify the running kernel version afterwards.
- Identify hosts with NVIDIA GPUs that run the nouveau driver.
- Restrict local access on shared multi-user GPU systems.
- Monitor for kernel crashes or unusual GPU driver messages until patched.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Linux kernel stable fix commit 0d29bf51 git.kernel.org
- Linux kernel stable fix commit 1245b4b4 git.kernel.org
- Linux kernel stable fix commit 3359a372 git.kernel.org
- Linux kernel stable fix commit 34d9dffa git.kernel.org
- Linux kernel stable fix commit 5b2fffbb git.kernel.org
- Ubuntu security notice CVE-2026-98517 ubuntu.com
- vuldb CVE-2026-98517 vuldb.com
- OSV Bell Alpaquita CVE-2026-98517 osv.dev
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 1 Nov 2026, 23:41.
Original description (NVD)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/nouveau/uvmm: fix UAF in nouveau_uvmm_sm when BO is in TTM_PL_SYSTEM nouveau_uvmm_sm() calls op_map(), which passes bo->resource through nouveau_mem() to nouveau_uvma_map(). nouveau_uvmm_vmm_map() then reads mem->mem.type. But this is only valid when bo->resource is backed by struct nouveau_mem, as is the case for VRAM and TT resources. If the BO is left in TTM_PL_SYSTEM, bo->resource is only a struct ttm_resource. Treating it as struct nouveau_mem makes the mem->mem.type read past the end of the resource, causing a KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in nouveau_uvmm_sm report: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nouveau_uvmm_vmm_map drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:152 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nouveau_uvma_map drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:199 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in op_map drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:849 [inline] BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in nouveau_uvmm_sm.constprop.0+0x6ab/0x900 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:903 Read of size 1 at addr ffff888127d3e3a0 by task kworker/0:1/11 CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 11 Comm: kworker/0:1 Not tainted 7.2.0 #5 PREEMPT(lazy) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.3-debian-1.16.3-2 04/01/2014 Workqueue: nouveau_sched_wq_2224 drm_sched_run_job_work Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:94 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0x95/0xe0 lib/dump_stack.c:120 print_address_description mm/kasan/report.c:378 [inline] print_report+0xcb/0x5a0 mm/kasan/report.c:482 kasan_report+0xca/0x100 mm/kasan/report.c:595 nouveau_uvmm_vmm_map drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:152 [inline] nouveau_uvma_map drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:199 [inline] op_map drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:849 [inline] nouveau_uvmm_sm.constprop.0+0x6ab/0x900 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:903 nouveau_uvmm_sm_unmap drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:932 [inline] nouveau_uvmm_bind_job_run+0xd6/0x250 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_uvmm.c:1532 nouveau_job_run drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_sched.c:350 [inline] nouveau_sched_run_job+0x62/0xd0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_sched.c:364 drm_sched_run_job_work+0x356/0xa10 drivers/gpu/drm/scheduler/sched_main.c:1061 process_one_work+0x8a5/0x1900 kernel/workqueue.c:3322 process_scheduled_works kernel/workqueue.c:3405 [inline] worker_thread+0x5dd/0xd80 kernel/workqueue.c:3486 kthread+0x31d/0x420 kernel/kthread.c:436 ret_from_fork+0x662/0x940 arch/x86/kernel/process.c:158 ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:245 </TASK> Allocated by task 2224 on cpu 0 at 66.550027s: kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50 mm/kasan/common.c:57 kasan_save_track+0x17/0x60 mm/kasan/common.c:78 poison_kmalloc_redzone mm/kasan/common.c:398 [inline] __kasan_kmalloc+0xaa/0xb0 mm/kasan/common.c:415 kasan_kmalloc include/linux/kasan.h:263 [inline] __do_kmalloc_node mm/slub.c:5334 [inline] __kmalloc_noprof+0x304/0x7c0 mm/slub.c:5359 _kmalloc_noprof include/linux/slab.h:992 [inline] dma_resv_list_alloc+0x27/0x90 drivers/dma-buf/dma-resv.c:106 dma_resv_reserve_fences+0x60e/0xa30 drivers/dma-buf/dma-resv.c:205 ttm_bo_alloc_resource+0x12c/0xbd0 drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:721 ttm_bo_validate+0x1bc/0x4a0 drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:856 ttm_bo_init_reserved+0x2c3/0x570 drivers/gpu/drm/ttm/ttm_bo.c:970 nouveau_bo_init+0x159/0x2c0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_bo.c:359 nouveau_gem_new+0x234/0x5f0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c:272 nouveau_gem_ioctl_new+0x1eb/0x420 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_gem.c:352 drm_ioctl_kernel+0x192/0x350 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_ioctl.c:817 drm_ioctl+0x4f8/0xb40 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_ioctl.c:914 nouveau_drm_ioctl+0xea/0x2c0 drivers/gpu/drm/nouveau/nouveau_drm.c:1338 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:597 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:583 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x180/0x1d0 fs/ioctl.c:583 do_syscall_x64 ar ---truncated---
NVD references (5)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0d29bf51f8dddcf8556bf76710d3dd3024a1a717
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1245b4b43da67596be61600dbd746539c79495ac
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3359a372efb6d585c97019ee1b7f1874442bcebe
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34d9dffaf0ff43ac395a7955b3f7b5d9d6154bf3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5b2fffbba290ed74f381911b9986570bc10feaa4
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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