Answer in brief
CVE-2026-98523 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in drm/client: fix restore of partially initialized client. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps Linux/Linux (generic), Linux/Linux (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | >=7f5535fcbba2ce7f1908ee7e5c350032a4b1e9d0 <11edd5b6735d2e1069ddce672b1836713647f7fb || >=5d08c44e47b9d41366714552bdd374ac4b595591 <fcbedba553a9c430079ee225df2dc7ab556a2f83 || >=5d08c44e47b9d41366714552bdd374ac4b595591 <a69c4b678db808c0d89abb8cedeaaac38d1ef182 || >=5d08c44e47b9d41366714552bdd374ac4b595591 <1fca688e9443003e33cf30453e7a7560367656c9 || >=6.12.19 <6.12.112 | 11edd5b6735d2e1069ddce672b1836713647f7fb, fcbedba553a9c430079ee225df2dc7ab556a2f83, a69c4b678db808c0d89abb8cedeaaac38d1ef182, 1fca688e9443003e33cf30453e7a7560367656c9, 6.12.112 |
| Linux/Linuxgeneric | 6.13 | Not reported |
Published upstream
Oct 18, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Oct 19, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Oct 18, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/client: fix restore of partially initialized client I got a null-ptr-deref report when closing a DRM file descriptor: WARNING: drivers/gpu/drm/drm_atomic.c:2031 at __drm_atomic_helper_set_config+0x18e/0x1b0 [drm] Call Trace: drm_client_modeset_commit_atomic+0x16b/0x220 [drm] drm_client_modeset_commit_locked+0x56/0x160 [drm] drm_client_modeset_commit+0x21/0x40 [drm] __drm_fb_helper_restore_fbdev_mode_unlocked.part.0+0x7b/0x80 drm_fbdev_client_restore+0xe/0x20 [drm_client_lib] drm_client_dev_restore+0x9f/0xc0 [drm] drm_release+0xc5/0xe0 [drm] The warning is followed by a NULL pointer dereference: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000008 RIP: __drm_fb_helper_restore_fbdev_mode_unlocked.part.0+0x41/0x80 [drm_kms_helper] Call Trace: drm_fbdev_client_restore+0xe/0x20 [drm_client_lib] drm_client_dev_restore+0x9f/0xc0 [drm] drm_release+0xc5/0xe0 [drm] __fput+0xdc/0x2b0 __x64_sys_close+0x39/0x80 do_syscall_64+0x8d/0x460 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e drm_client_register() adds the DRM client to the device client list before invoking the initial hotplug callback. If the hotplug callback fails, the client remains registered. For the fbdev client, a failure during drm_fb_helper_initial_config() causes the partially initialized fbdev helper to be cleaned up. drm_fb_helper_fini() releases fb_helper->info and leaves it NULL. The fbdev client therefore remains registered even though there is no fully initialized framebuffer device. Later, when userspace closes the DRM file descriptor, drm_release() can invoke the restore callbacks of registered DRM clients: drm_release() drm_client_dev_restore() drm_fbdev_client_restore() drm_fb_helper_restore_fbdev_mode_unlocked() drm_fbdev_client_restore() currently restores the fbdev state unconditionally. For a partially initialized fbdev client this can submit an incomplete modeset state and subsequently access fbdev state which has not been initialized, resulting in the warning and NULL pointer dereference above. drm_fbdev_client_unregister() already uses fb_helper->info to distinguish a fully probed framebuffer device from a partially initialized client. Use the same condition in drm_fbdev_client_restore() and skip restore if no framebuffer device has been successfully initialized.
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.