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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-31656

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.203 / 6.1.169 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: fix refcount underflow in intel_engine_park_heartbeat A use-after-free / refcount underflow is possible when the heartbeat worker and intel_engine_park_heartbeat() race to release the same engine->heartbeat.systole request. The heartbeat worker reads engine->heartbeat.systole and calls i915_request_put() on it when the request is complete, but clears the pointer in a separate, non-atomic step. Concurrently, a request retirement on another CPU can drop the engine wakeref to zero, triggering __engine_park() -> intel_engine_park_heartbeat(). If the heartbeat timer is pending at that point, cancel_delayed_work() returns true and intel_engine_park_heartbeat() reads the stale non-NULL systole pointer and calls i915_request_put() on it again, causing a refcount underflow: ``` <4> [487.221889] Workqueue: i915-unordered engine_retire [i915] <4> [487.222640] RIP: 0010:refcount_warn_saturate+0x68/0xb0 ... <4> [487.222707] Call Trace: <4> [487.222711] <TASK> <4> [487.222716] intel_engine_park_heartbeat.part.0+0x6f/0x80 [i915] <4> [487.223115] intel_engine_park_heartbeat+0x25/0x40 [i915] <4> [487.223566] __engine_park+0xb9/0x650 [i915] <4> [487.223973] ____intel_wakeref_put_last+0x2e/0xb0 [i915] <4> [487.224408] __intel_wakeref_put_last+0x72/0x90 [i915] <4> [487.224797] intel_context_exit_engine+0x7c/0x80 [i915] <4> [487.225238] intel_context_exit+0xf1/0x1b0 [i915] <4> [487.225695] i915_request_retire.part.0+0x1b9/0x530 [i915] <4> [487.226178] i915_request_retire+0x1c/0x40 [i915] <4> [487.226625] engine_retire+0x122/0x180 [i915] <4> [487.227037] process_one_work+0x239/0x760 <4> [487.227060] worker_thread+0x200/0x3f0 <4> [487.227068] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 <4> [487.227075] kthread+0x10d/0x150 <4> [487.227083] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 <4> [487.227092] ret_from_fork+0x3d4/0x480 <4> [487.227099] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 <4> [487.227107] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 <4> [487.227141] </TASK> ``` Fix this by replacing the non-atomic pointer read + separate clear with xchg() in both racing paths. xchg() is a single indivisible hardware instruction that atomically reads the old pointer and writes NULL. This guarantees only one of the two concurrent callers obtains the non-NULL pointer and performs the put, the other gets NULL and skips it. (cherry picked from commit 13238dc0ee4f9ab8dafa2cca7295736191ae2f42)

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 5.5.1, < 5.15.203>= 5.16, < 6.1.169>= 6.2, < 6.6.135>= 6.7, < 6.12.82>= 6.13, < 6.18.23>= 6.19, < 6.19.13= 5.5= 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 / 6.1.169 / 6.6.135 or later
Fixed in 5.15.2036.1.1696.6.135
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel version 5.15.203 or later for 5.15.x branch; 6.1.169 or later for 6.1.x branch; 6.6.135 or later for 6.2-6.6.x branch; or 6.12.82 or later for 6.7-6.12.x branch

  1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which kernel version branch is installed (e.g., 5.15.x, 6.1.x, 6.2.x, 6.7.x, 6.12.x)
  3. For production systems: schedule a maintenance window for kernel upgrade
  4. Update system packages to obtain the fixed kernel version. On RHEL/CentOS: `sudo yum update kernel` or `sudo dnf update kernel`. On Debian/Ubuntu: `sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install linux-image-<version>`
  5. After kernel update completes, reboot the system to load the new kernel: `sudo systemctl reboot`
  6. Verify the running kernel is now at or above the fixed version: `uname -r`
  7. Confirm the vulnerability is addressed by checking that the xchg() fix is present in the i915 module if needed
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree kernel modules or custom drivers; ensure backups and test in staging first

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 $1,950. 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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