CVE-2026-53375 in Linux
Summary
by MITRE • 07/19/2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
drm/amdgpu/vce: Prevent partial address patches
In the case that only one of lo/hi is valid, the patching could result in a bad address written to in FW.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2026
The vulnerability resides within the amdgpu driver's Video Coding Engine implementation in the Linux kernel, specifically addressing how address patches are handled during firmware operations. This issue affects the VCE subsystem responsible for video encoding and decoding tasks on AMD graphics hardware. The root cause involves improper validation of address components when patching memory addresses for firmware operations, creating potential security implications that could be exploited by malicious actors.
The technical flaw occurs in the address patching logic where the system fails to properly validate whether both low and high address components are simultaneously valid before proceeding with the patching operation. When only one component - either the lower or upper portion of a memory address - is deemed valid, the system continues processing and writes an incomplete or malformed address to the firmware. This partial address patching creates a condition where the firmware receives corrupted memory references that could lead to unpredictable behavior or potential code execution vulnerabilities.
This vulnerability impacts the operational integrity of graphics processing operations on AMD hardware, particularly affecting video encoding workflows that rely on VCE functionality. The improper address handling could result in firmware crashes, data corruption during video processing, or potentially enable privilege escalation attacks if exploited. The issue represents a classic memory safety concern where incomplete validation leads to malformed data being written to critical system components.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129 Input Validation and CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write categories, demonstrating how inadequate bounds checking in address manipulation can create exploitable conditions. From an attack perspective, this could map to ATT&CK technique T1068, where privilege escalation or code execution vulnerabilities are leveraged through kernel-level memory corruption. The flaw specifically affects systems running Linux kernels with AMD graphics drivers that utilize the VCE subsystem for video processing tasks.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing comprehensive address validation routines before any patching operations occur. System administrators should ensure immediate kernel updates are applied to address this vulnerability, particularly in environments where AMD graphics hardware is utilized for video processing workloads. Additional protective measures include monitoring for abnormal firmware behavior and implementing proper input sanitization procedures that validate both address components simultaneously rather than individually. The fix requires modifying the patching logic to reject partial address values and ensure complete address structures are validated before writing to firmware memory locations.