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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31540

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.203 / 6.1.167 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/gt: Check set_default_submission() before deferencing When the i915 driver firmware binaries are not present, the set_default_submission pointer is not set. This pointer is dereferenced during suspend anyways. Add a check to make sure it is set before dereferencing. [ 23.289926] PM: suspend entry (deep) [ 23.293558] Filesystems sync: 0.000 seconds [ 23.298010] Freezing user space processes [ 23.302771] Freezing user space processes completed (elapsed 0.000 seconds) [ 23.309766] OOM killer disabled. [ 23.313027] Freezing remaining freezable tasks [ 23.318540] Freezing remaining freezable tasks completed (elapsed 0.001 seconds) [ 23.342038] serial 00:05: disabled [ 23.345719] serial 00:02: disabled [ 23.349342] serial 00:01: disabled [ 23.353782] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronizing SCSI cache [ 23.358993] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Synchronizing SCSI cache [ 23.361635] ata1.00: Entering standby power mode [ 23.368863] ata2.00: Entering standby power mode [ 23.445187] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [ 23.452194] #PF: supervisor instruction fetch in kernel mode [ 23.457896] #PF: error_code(0x0010) - not-present page [ 23.463065] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 23.465640] Oops: Oops: 0010 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 23.469869] CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 211 Comm: kworker/u48:18 Tainted: G S W 6.19.0-rc4-00020-gf0b9d8eb98df #10 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 23.482512] Tainted: [S]=CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC, [W]=WARN [ 23.496511] Workqueue: async async_run_entry_fn [ 23.501087] RIP: 0010:0x0 [ 23.503755] Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0xffffffffffffffd6. [ 23.510324] RSP: 0018:ffffb4a60065fca8 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 23.515592] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9f428290e000 RCX: 000000000000000f [ 23.522765] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000282 RDI: ffff9f428290e000 [ 23.529937] RBP: ffff9f4282907070 R08: ffff9f4281130428 R09: 00000000ffffffff [ 23.537111] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff9f42829070f8 [ 23.544284] R13: ffff9f4282906028 R14: ffff9f4282900000 R15: ffff9f4282906b68 [ 23.551457] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9f466b2cf000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 23.559588] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 23.565365] CR2: ffffffffffffffd6 CR3: 000000031c230001 CR4: 0000000000f70ef0 [ 23.572539] PKRU: 55555554 [ 23.575281] Call Trace: [ 23.577770] <TASK> [ 23.579905] intel_engines_reset_default_submission+0x42/0x60 [ 23.585695] __intel_gt_unset_wedged+0x191/0x200 [ 23.590360] intel_gt_unset_wedged+0x20/0x40 [ 23.594675] gt_sanitize+0x15e/0x170 [ 23.598290] i915_gem_suspend_late+0x6b/0x180 [ 23.602692] i915_drm_suspend_late+0x35/0xf0 [ 23.607008] ? __pfx_pci_pm_suspend_late+0x10/0x10 [ 23.611843] dpm_run_callback+0x78/0x1c0 [ 23.615817] device_suspend_late+0xde/0x2e0 [ 23.620037] async_suspend_late+0x18/0x30 [ 23.624082] async_run_entry_fn+0x25/0xa0 [ 23.628129] process_one_work+0x15b/0x380 [ 23.632182] worker_thread+0x2a5/0x3c0 [ 23.635973] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.640279] kthread+0xf6/0x1f0 [ 23.643464] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.647263] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.651045] ret_from_fork+0x131/0x190 [ 23.654837] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.658634] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 23.662597] </TASK> [ 23.664826] Modules linked in: [ 23.667914] CR2: 0000000000000000 [ 23.671271] ------------[ cut here ]------------ (cherry picked from commit daa199abc3d3d1740c9e3a2c3e9216ae5b447cad)

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:>= 4.12, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.167>= 6.2, < 6.6.130>= 6.7, < 6.12.78>= 6.13, < 6.18.20>= 6.19, < 6.19.10= 7.0

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 5.15.203 / 6.1.167 / 6.6.130 or later
Fixed in 5.15.2036.1.1676.6.130
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.15.203+ / 6.1.167+ / 6.6.130+ / 6.12.78+ (depending on your current version branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
  2. 2. Determine which version branch the current kernel belongs to (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.6.x, 6.7-6.12.x)
  3. 3. For kernels >= 4.12 and < 5.15.203: upgrade to kernel version 5.15.203 or later
  4. 4. For kernels >= 5.16 and < 6.1.167: upgrade to kernel version 6.1.167 or later
  5. 5. For kernels >= 6.2 and < 6.6.130: upgrade to kernel version 6.6.130 or later
  6. 6. For kernels >= 6.7 and < 6.12.78: upgrade to kernel version 6.12.78 or later
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the fix is present by checking the commit 0162ab3220bac870e43e229e6e3024d1a21c3f26 is included
  8. 8. Test suspend/resume functionality on systems with Intel i915 GPU to confirm the NULL pointer dereference is resolved
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could have driver/module compatibility considerations; test in staging environment 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

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Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-31540 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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