Local denial of service via resume memory leak
Published May 21, 2024 · Updated Aug 11, 2026
Memory leakage in the AMD display driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through repeated suspend and resume cycles. During resume, dm_resume calls dm_dmub_hw_init, which reaches dc_dmub_srv_create and performs a fresh kzalloc for an already allocated DMUB DC wrapper. Exploitation requires an AMD display configuration using DMUB and permission to trigger repeated suspend and resume cycles, eventually interrupting service through memory exhaustion.
Summary
What happened
Memory leakage in the AMD display driver in Linux allows local users to exhaust kernel memory through repeated suspend and resume cycles. During resume, dm_resume calls dm_dmub_hw_init, which reaches dc_dmub_srv_create and performs a fresh kzalloc for an already allocated DMUB DC wrapper. Exploitation requires an AMD display configuration using DMUB and permission to trigger repeated suspend and resume cycles, eventually interrupting service through memory exhaustion.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47253
- Published
- May 21, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-401, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 21, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=5.6
- Affected versionversion=8c7aea404d55dabc71df792c850aed5536ece2fd <9e8c2af010463197315fa54a6c17e74988b5259c
- Affected versionversion=8c7aea404d55dabc71df792c850aed5536ece2fd <aa000f828e60ac15d6340f606ec4a673966f5b0b
- Affected versionversion=8c7aea404d55dabc71df792c850aed5536ece2fd <c5699e2d863f58221044efdc3fa712dd32d55cde
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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