Local boot hang via QXL lock cycle
Published May 30, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper locking in the Linux kernel QXL DRM driver allows local users to hang a QXL-backed virtual machine during boot. The qxl_fence_wait change waits for a QXL fence in a path where debugging identified a circular dependency between console-owner and worker-pool locking. Reachability requires local low-privileged access to a Linux guest using QXL; the bounded consequence is a boot hang, with no reported data access or modification.
Summary
What happened
Improper locking in the Linux kernel QXL DRM driver allows local users to hang a QXL-backed virtual machine during boot. The qxl_fence_wait change waits for a QXL fence in a path where debugging identified a circular dependency between console-owner and worker-pool locking. Reachability requires local low-privileged access to a Linux guest using QXL; the bounded consequence is a boot hang, with no reported data access or modification.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-36944
- Published
- May 30, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-667
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 30, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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- Affected versionversion=07ed11afb68d94eadd4ffc082b97c2331307c5ea <3628e0383dd349f02f882e612ab6184e4bb3dc10
- Affected versionversion=13ab5db42a593f9904acc39055ee3ae75963fc88 <3dfe35d8683daf9ba69278643efbabe40000bbf6
- Affected versionversion=42cbe04a5c77da74fb7161b0ae63f1f6e105d633 <148ed8b4d64f94ab079c8f0d88c3f444db97ba97
- Affected versionversion=5.15.156 <5.15.159
- Affected versionversion=6.1.87 <6.1.91
- Affected versionversion=6.6.28 <6.6.31
- Affected versionversion=6.8.7 <6.8.10
- Affected versionversion=84fb60063509e462e39c0e097c7d6dbb71c95967 <b548c53bc3ab83dc6fc86c8e840f013b2032267a
- Affected versionversion=8d278fc34cdd8a44e995fa93dfd31d619a2e1fe6 <4a89ac4b0921c4ea21eb1b4cf3a469a91bacfcea
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
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