CVE-2025-39739
NoneCVSS
—
EPSS
0.2%
Published
Sep 11, 2025
CISA due date
—
Cloudanix analysis
Certain Qualcomm-based devices fail to start their graphics hardware correctly because a needed software workaround was not applied, and updating the operating system kernel fixes the problem.
- Exploitation
- Other
- Attacker needs
- None
- Complexity
- Theoretical
- Impact
- Denial Of Service
- Component
- OS kernel
- Class
- Other
- Remediation
- Patch
- Effort
- Low
- Patch risk
- Low
What it actually does
Missing device-specific compatible string in the arm-smmu-qcom driver prevents application of an SMMU workaround on SM6115-based platforms, resulting in repeated unhandled context faults (fsr=0x402) and downstream failures initializing MDSS components including GPU and DPU.
Why it matters to the business
Embedded devices using affected Qualcomm chipsets experience boot-time graphics and display initialization failures, leading to non-functional systems and requiring kernel updates or workarounds.
How an attack unfolds
An attacker with the ability to trigger device enumeration or boot on an unpatched kernel can observe or induce the SMMU faults during MDSS component binding; listed threat actors such as VMSCAPE have been associated with similar kernel privilege-escalation patterns on container-optimized OS environments.
How to fix it
Update the Linux kernel to a fixed commit (a11b6ee7cab87c4d75e95ac9e7443155f7cecb55) or later stable release; for kustomize (MinimOS) deploy version 5.7.1-r1 or newer that includes the SM6115 MDSS compatible entry.
How to confirm the fix worked
Confirm the compatible string "qcom,sm6115-mdss" appears in the arm-smmu-qcom driver clients list and verify that boot logs no longer contain repeated "Unhandled context fault" messages or msm_gpu_init errors on SM6115 hardware.
Typical attack path
- Boot or hot-plug triggers MDSS component probe on SM6115 hardware
- iommu driver fails to match the required workaround due to missing compatible
- Repeated arm_smmu_context_fault events are generated
- msm_gem_vma_init and related GPU/DPU initialization fail with -EINVAL
- Display and GPU subsystems remain non-operational
How to detect it
Search kernel logs for repeated "arm_smmu_context_fault" and "Unhandled context fault: fsr=0x402" entries during boot; correlate with msm_drm_bind or lt9611uxc probe failures on systems using the affected Qualcomm IOMMU.
What your security team should do
- Prioritize kernel upgrade on all SM6115/SM4250-based devices within the next maintenance window due to 411 days since publication
- Add the fixed commit hash to internal kernel build pipelines and CI tests
- Monitor EPSS trend (currently stable at 0.0016) and reassess if new exploit code appears
The record
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/arm-smmu-qcom: Add SM6115 MDSS compatible Add the SM6115 MDSS compatible to clients compatible list, as it also needs that workaround. Without this workaround, for example, QRB4210 RB2 which is based on SM4250/SM6115 generates a lot of smmu unhandled context faults during boot: arm_smmu_context_fault: 116854 callbacks suppressed arm-smmu c600000.iommu: Unhandled context fault: fsr=0x402, iova=0x5c0ec600, fsynr=0x320021, cbfrsynra=0x420, cb=5 arm-smmu c600000.iommu: FSR = 00000402 [Format=2 TF], SID=0x420 arm-smmu c600000.iommu: FSYNR0 = 00320021 [S1CBNDX=50 PNU PLVL=1] arm-smmu c600000.iommu: Unhandled context fault: fsr=0x402, iova=0x5c0d7800, fsynr=0x320021, cbfrsynra=0x420, cb=5 arm-smmu c600000.iommu: FSR = 00000402 [Format=2 TF], SID=0x420 and also failed initialisation of lontium lt9611uxc, gpu and dpu is observed: (binding MDSS components triggered by lt9611uxc have failed) ------------[ cut here ]------------ !aspace WARNING: CPU: 6 PID: 324 at drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_gem_vma.c:130 msm_gem_vma_init+0x150/0x18c [msm] Modules linked in: ... (long list of modules) CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 324 Comm: (udev-worker) Not tainted 6.15.0-03037-gaacc73ceeb8b #4 PREEMPT Hardware name: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. QRB4210 RB2 (DT) pstate: 80000005 (Nzcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : msm_gem_vma_init+0x150/0x18c [msm] lr : msm_gem_vma_init+0x150/0x18c [msm] sp : ffff80008144b280 ... Call trace: msm_gem_vma_init+0x150/0x18c [msm] (P) get_vma_locked+0xc0/0x194 [msm] msm_gem_get_and_pin_iova_range+0x4c/0xdc [msm] msm_gem_kernel_new+0x48/0x160 [msm] msm_gpu_init+0x34c/0x53c [msm] adreno_gpu_init+0x1b0/0x2d8 [msm] a6xx_gpu_init+0x1e8/0x9e0 [msm] adreno_bind+0x2b8/0x348 [msm] component_bind_all+0x100/0x230 msm_drm_bind+0x13c/0x3d0 [msm] try_to_bring_up_aggregate_device+0x164/0x1d0 __component_add+0xa4/0x174 component_add+0x14/0x20 dsi_dev_attach+0x20/0x34 [msm] dsi_host_attach+0x58/0x98 [msm] devm_mipi_dsi_attach+0x34/0x90 lt9611uxc_attach_dsi.isra.0+0x94/0x124 [lontium_lt9611uxc] lt9611uxc_probe+0x540/0x5fc [lontium_lt9611uxc] i2c_device_probe+0x148/0x2a8 really_probe+0xbc/0x2c0 __driver_probe_device+0x78/0x120 driver_probe_device+0x3c/0x154 __driver_attach+0x90/0x1a0 bus_for_each_dev+0x68/0xb8 driver_attach+0x24/0x30 bus_add_driver+0xe4/0x208 driver_register+0x68/0x124 i2c_register_driver+0x48/0xcc lt9611uxc_driver_init+0x20/0x1000 [lontium_lt9611uxc] do_one_initcall+0x60/0x1d4 do_init_module+0x54/0x1fc load_module+0x1748/0x1c8c init_module_from_file+0x74/0xa0 __arm64_sys_finit_module+0x130/0x2f8 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x104 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0xc0/0xe0 do_el0_svc+0x1c/0x28 el0_svc+0x2c/0x80 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x10c/0x138 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- msm_dpu 5e01000.display-controller: [drm:msm_gpu_init [msm]] *ERROR* could not allocate memptrs: -22 msm_dpu 5e01000.display-controller: failed to load adreno gpu platform a400000.remoteproc:glink-edge:apr:service@7:dais: Adding to iommu group 19 msm_dpu 5e01000.display-controller: failed to bind 5900000.gpu (ops a3xx_ops [msm]): -22 msm_dpu 5e01000.display-controller: adev bind failed: -22 lt9611uxc 0-002b: failed to attach dsi to host lt9611uxc 0-002b: probe with driver lt9611uxc failed with error -22
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Introduced | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:13 | linux | 0 | 6.12.43-1 |
| Debian:14 | linux | 0 | 6.16.3-1 |
| Linux | Kernel | 6.2.0 | 6.6.103 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_16 | 0 | 1-150600.1.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_16 | 0 | 1-150600.13.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_6 | 0 | 1-150700.15.3.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1.150600.12.32.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1.150700.17.15.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15 SP7 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Legacy 15 SP7 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.20.18.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.20.18.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Public Cloud 15 SP7 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.20.18.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| SUSE:Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1.150600.12.32.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt_debug | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-source-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-azure | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-syms-rt | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.6 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | dtb-aarch64 | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-64kb | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-default-base | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1.160000.2.4 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-docs | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-kvmsmall | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-obs-build | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-obs-qa | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-rt | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-source | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-syms | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 16.0 | kernel-zfcpdump | 0 | 6.12.0-160000.6.1 |
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