Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2025-71130

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.1.160 / 6.6.120 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/i915/gem: Zero-initialize the eb.vma array in i915_gem_do_execbuffer Initialize the eb.vma array with values of 0 when the eb structure is first set up. In particular, this sets the eb->vma[i].vma pointers to NULL, simplifying cleanup and getting rid of the bug described below. During the execution of eb_lookup_vmas(), the eb->vma array is successively filled up with struct eb_vma objects. This process includes calling eb_add_vma(), which might fail; however, even in the event of failure, eb->vma[i].vma is set for the currently processed buffer. If eb_add_vma() fails, eb_lookup_vmas() returns with an error, which prompts a call to eb_release_vmas() to clean up the mess. Since eb_lookup_vmas() might fail during processing any (possibly not first) buffer, eb_release_vmas() checks whether a buffer's vma is NULL to know at what point did the lookup function fail. In eb_lookup_vmas(), eb->vma[i].vma is set to NULL if either the helper function eb_lookup_vma() or eb_validate_vma() fails. eb->vma[i+1].vma is set to NULL in case i915_gem_object_userptr_submit_init() fails; the current one needs to be cleaned up by eb_release_vmas() at this point, so the next one is set. If eb_add_vma() fails, neither the current nor the next vma is set to NULL, which is a source of a NULL deref bug described in the issue linked in the Closes tag. When entering eb_lookup_vmas(), the vma pointers are set to the slab poison value, instead of NULL. This doesn't matter for the actual lookup, since it gets overwritten anyway, however the eb_release_vmas() function only recognizes NULL as the stopping value, hence the pointers are being set to NULL as they go in case of intermediate failure. This patch changes the approach to filling them all with NULL at the start instead, rather than handling that manually during failure. (cherry picked from commit 08889b706d4f0b8d2352b7ca29c2d8df4d0787cd)

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.16.1, < 6.1.160>= 6.2, < 6.6.120>= 6.7, < 6.12.64>= 6.13, < 6.18.4= 5.16= 6.19

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.1.160 / 6.6.120 / 6.12.64 or later
Fixed in 6.1.1606.6.1206.12.64
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 6.1.160 or later (for 6.1.x branch), 6.6.120 or later (for 6.2-6.6.x branch), 6.12.64 or later (for 6.7-6.12.x branch), or 6.18.4 or later (for 6.13-6.18.x branch). For production systems, use the latest stable kernel available from your distribution.

  1. 1. Identify the current running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check if the running kernel version falls within any of the affected ranges: >= 5.16.1 and < 6.1.160, >= 6.2 and < 6.6.120, >= 6.7 and < 6.12.64, or >= 6.13 and < 6.18.4
  3. 3. If affected, schedule a maintenance window for kernel upgrade
  4. 4. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version at or above the first fixed release for your branch: 6.1.160, 6.6.120, 6.12.64, or 6.18.4 respectively
  5. 5. For distribution-based systems, use the package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade` for Debian/Ubuntu, `yum update` for RHEL/CentOS) to install the latest available kernel package
  6. 6. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  7. 7. Verify the new kernel version is running using `uname -r` and confirm it is no longer in the affected range
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require driver recompilation or system restart. Verify compatibility of custom drivers or kernel modules with the new version before production deployment.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $2,850. Get the upgrade done

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-71130 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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