Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2026-98522

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Oct 18, 2026

CISA due date

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Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A bug in the Linux graphics driver for certain Imagination GPUs can cause the whole system to crash when programs try to use graphics memory in specific ways.

Exploitation
Requires User Interaction
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Low
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Improper Input Validation
Remediation
Patch
Effort
Low
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Failure to propagate map errors from pvr_mmu_map_sgl() causes pvr_mmu_map() to continue execution on failure, resulting in a kernel NULL pointer dereference during MMU page unmap operations in the Imagination PowerVR DRM driver.

Why it matters to the business

Kernel crashes can interrupt graphics workloads, reduce system availability on affected Linux devices, and require reboots, with higher impact on systems using PowerVR GPUs for compute or display tasks.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with access to the DRM ioctl interface issues a sequence of GPU virtual memory mapping operations that trigger an internal map failure in pvr_mmu_map_sgl(); the missing error return allows the driver to dereference a NULL pointer during subsequent unmap handling, crashing the kernel.

How to fix it

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix for proper error propagation from pvr_mmu_map_sgl() into pvr_mmu_map(); rebuild and deploy the updated kernel image on affected systems; test graphics workloads post-update to confirm stability.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the kernel version includes the commit that returns the error code from pvr_mmu_map_sgl(); attempt to reproduce the original call stack with failing mappings and verify that errors are now correctly returned to user space instead of crashing.

Typical attack path

  1. Obtain local user access on a Linux system with the powervr DRM module loaded
  2. Invoke DRM ioctls to perform GPU virtual address space bind and map operations
  3. Craft mappings that cause pvr_mmu_map_sgl() to fail internally
  4. Trigger the unhandled error path in pvr_mmu_map() leading to NULL dereference in pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page

How to detect it

Search kernel logs for Oops traces referencing pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page, pvr_mmu_map, and powervr module; inspect dmesg or journalctl for NULL pointer dereference faults with ESR 0x96000004 during drm_ioctl calls from graphics processes.

  • pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page+0x6c/0x134 [powervr]
  • Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000008
  • ESR = 0x0000000096000004
  • Modules linked in: powervr gpu_sched drm_shmem_helper

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on systems exposing the Imagination PowerVR driver within the next maintenance window
  • Restrict unprivileged access to DRM ioctls where possible using device permissions or namespaces
  • Monitor for kernel oops involving pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page in logs

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/imagination: Propagate map failures correctly from pvr_mmu_map_sgl() Map failure from pvr_mmu_map_sgl() interface was not returned correctly to pvr_mmu_map() interface. This resulted in pvr_mmu_map() interface to continue instead of returning an error to caller. Fix it by returning a proper error code from pvr_mmu_map_sgl() interface. Call stack for crash: [ 1179.286237] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000008 [ 1179.295067] Mem abort info: [ 1179.297877] ESR = 0x0000000096000004 [ 1179.301656] EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits [ 1179.306987] SET = 0, FnV = 0 [ 1179.310048] EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 [ 1179.313198] FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault [ 1179.318096] Data abort info: [ 1179.320993] ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 [ 1179.326483] CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 [ 1179.331546] GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 [ 1179.336895] user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=000000009822a000 [ 1179.343402] [0000000000000008] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000 [ 1179.350243] Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#2] SMP [ 1179.355908] Modules linked in: powervr gpu_sched drm_shmem_helper drm_gpuvm drm_exec xhci_plat_hcd xhci_hcd dwc3 usbcore usb_common snd_soc_simple_card snd_soc_simple_card_utils dwc3_am62 at24 sa2ul sha512 libsha512 sha256 authenc sch_fq_codel fuse dm_mod ipv6 [ 1179.378992] CPU: 1 UID: 1000 PID: 680 Comm: deqp-vk Tainted: G D 6.17.0 #1 PREEMPT [ 1179.388120] Tainted: [D]=DIE [ 1179.390994] Hardware name: Texas Instruments AM625 SK (DT) [ 1179.396467] pstate: 00000005 (nzcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) [ 1179.403415] pc : pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page+0x6c/0x134 [powervr] [ 1179.410140] lr : pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page+0x58/0x134 [powervr] [ 1179.416848] sp : ffff8000839ab8c0 [ 1179.420153] x29: ffff8000839ab8c0 x28: 0000000000000001 x27: 000000008f386000 [ 1179.427283] x26: ffff000016d1df98 x25: 0000000000247000 x24: 00000000000001e6 [ 1179.434413] x23: 0000000000000002 x22: 000000000000ffff x21: 0000000000000247 [ 1179.441540] x20: 0000000000000245 x19: ffff000016d1df60 x18: 0000000000000002 [ 1179.448668] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000000000000001 [ 1179.455793] x14: 0000000000060810 x13: ffff80007fffffff x12: ffff000004190480 [ 1179.462921] x11: ffff8000853f7000 x10: ffff8000811ae000 x9 : ffff0000041900b8 [ 1179.470051] x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 00000000990c4001 x6 : 0000000000000007 [ 1179.477177] x5 : ffff000016d1df60 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : ffff00000a7d8000 [ 1179.484306] x2 : 00000000000001ff x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000000 [ 1179.491433] Call trace: [ 1179.493872] pvr_mmu_op_context_unmap_curr_page+0x6c/0x134 [powervr] (P) [ 1179.500582] pvr_mmu_map+0x31c/0x388 [powervr] [ 1179.505027] pvr_vm_gpuva_map+0x40/0x88 [powervr] [ 1179.509732] __drm_gpuvm_sm_map+0x250/0x44c [drm_gpuvm] [ 1179.514952] drm_gpuvm_sm_map+0x48/0x5c [drm_gpuvm] [ 1179.519822] pvr_vm_bind_op_exec+0x64/0x70 [powervr] [ 1179.524785] pvr_vm_map+0x1f8/0x2a8 [powervr] [ 1179.529142] pvr_ioctl_vm_map+0x12c/0x188 [powervr] [ 1179.534018] drm_ioctl_kernel+0xb8/0x128 [ 1179.537941] drm_ioctl+0x21c/0x4ec [ 1179.541337] __arm64_sys_ioctl+0xac/0x108 [ 1179.545344] invoke_syscall+0x44/0x100 [ 1179.549091] el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x40/0xe0 [ 1179.553790] do_el0_svc+0x1c/0x28 [ 1179.557106] el0_svc+0x34/0xf0 [ 1179.560159] el0t_64_sync_handler+0xd0/0xe4 [ 1179.564334] el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c [ 1179.567996] Code: 54000300 35000360 f9402261 79409a62 (f9400421) [ 1179.574081] ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed