Application hangs via unsignaled scheduled fences
Published Jul 25, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026
Improper locking in the Linux kernel DRM scheduler allows local users to hang applications whose GPU jobs depend on a killed entity. drm_sched_entity_kill_jobs_work() removes the killed entity's jobs without signaling each scheduled fence, leaving dependent jobs blocked forever. Low-privileged local access and a cross-application GPU fence dependency are required; the reported consequence is limited to hanging dependent applications.
Summary
What happened
Improper locking in the Linux kernel DRM scheduler allows local users to hang applications whose GPU jobs depend on a killed entity. drm_sched_entity_kill_jobs_work() removes the killed entity's jobs without signaling each scheduled fence, leaving dependent jobs blocked forever. Low-privileged local access and a cross-application GPU fence dependency are required; the reported consequence is limited to hanging dependent applications.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-38436
- Published
- Jul 25, 2025
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 25, 2025CVE 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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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=4.3
- Affected versionversion=a72ce6f84109c1dec1ab236d65979d3250668af3 <471db2c2d4f80ee94225a1ef246e4f5011733e50
- Affected versionversion=a72ce6f84109c1dec1ab236d65979d3250668af3 <8342127a8a65b0673863b106ce32b79c91ae3270
- Affected versionversion=a72ce6f84109c1dec1ab236d65979d3250668af3 <aa382a8b6ed483e9812d0e63b6d1bdcba0186f29
- Affected versionversion=a72ce6f84109c1dec1ab236d65979d3250668af3 <aefd0a935625165a6ca36d0258d2d053901555df
- Affected versionversion=a72ce6f84109c1dec1ab236d65979d3250668af3 <c5734f9bab6f0d40577ad0633af4090a5fda2407
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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