Linux Kernel up to 6.17.2 msm null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.2. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality of the component msm. Executing a manipulation can lead to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2025-40073. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.17.2 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects an unknown function of the component msm. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/msm: Do not validate SSPP when it is not ready Current code will validate current plane and previous plane to confirm they can share a SSPP with multi-rect mode. The SSPP is already allocated for previous plane, while current plane is not associated with any SSPP yet. Null pointer is referenced when validating the SSPP of current plane. Skip SSPP validation for current plane. Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000020 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x0000000096000004 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000004, ISS2 = 0x00000000 CM = 0, WnR = 0, TnD = 0, TagAccess = 0 GCS = 0, Overlay = 0, DirtyBit = 0, Xs = 0 user pgtable: 4k pages, 48-bit VAs, pgdp=0000000888ac3000 [0000000000000020] pgd=0000000000000000, p4d=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 0000000096000004 [#1] SMP Modules linked in: CPU: 4 UID: 0 PID: 1891 Comm: modetest Tainted: G S 6.15.0-rc2-g3ee3f6e1202e #335 PREEMPT Tainted: [S]=CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC Hardware name: SM8650 EV1 rev1 4slam 2et (DT) pstate: 63400009 (nZCv daif +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : dpu_plane_is_multirect_capable+0x68/0x90 lr : dpu_assign_plane_resources+0x288/0x410 sp : ffff800093dcb770 x29: ffff800093dcb770 x28: 0000000000002000 x27: ffff000817c6c000 x26: ffff000806b46368 x25: ffff0008013f6080 x24: ffff00080cbf4800 x23: ffff000810842680 x22: ffff0008013f1080 x21: ffff00080cc86080 x20: ffff000806b463b0 x19: ffff00080cbf5a00 x18: 00000000ffffffff x17: 707a5f657a696c61 x16: 0000000000000003 x15: 0000000000002200 x14: 00000000ffffffff x13: 00aaaaaa00aaaaaa x12: 0000000000000000 x11: ffff000817c6e2b8 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : ffff80008106a950 x8 : ffff00080cbf48f4 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000438 x3 : 0000000000000438 x2 : ffff800082e245e0 x1 : 0000000000000008 x0 : 0000000000000000 Call trace: dpu_plane_is_multirect_capable+0x68/0x90 (P) dpu_crtc_atomic_check+0x5bc/0x650 drm_atomic_helper_check_planes+0x13c/0x220 drm_atomic_helper_check+0x58/0xb8 msm_atomic_check+0xd8/0xf0 drm_atomic_check_only+0x4a8/0x968 drm_atomic_commit+0x50/0xd8 drm_atomic_helper_update_plane+0x140/0x188 __setplane_atomic+0xfc/0x148 drm_mode_setplane+0x164/0x378 drm_ioctl_kernel+0xc0/0x140 drm_ioctl+0x20c/0x500 __arm64_sys_ioctl+0xbc/0xf8 invoke_syscall+0x50/0x120 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x48/0xf8 do_el0_svc+0x28/0x40 el0_svc+0x30/0xd0 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x144/0x168 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x1a0 Code: b9402021 370fffc1 f9401441 3707ff81 (f94010a1) ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- Patchwork: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/669224/

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2025-40073 since 04/16/2025. The exploitation appears to be difficult. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 271884 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2025-40073), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 6.17.3 or 6.18-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f1dbb3eedb7db4cad45d2619edb1cce6041f79e3/6fc616723bb5fd4289d7422fa013da062b44ae55 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (271884) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-2431). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Google Container-Optimized OS
• Debian Linux
• Amazon Linux 2
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• SUSE Linux
• Oracle Linux
• SUSE openSUSE
• Open Source Linux Kernel
• RESF Rocky Linux
• Microsoft Azure
• Dell NetWorker

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.17.0
• 6.17.1
• 6.17.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

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Entryinfo

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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