CVE-2023-52981

drm/i915: Fix request ref counting during error capture & debugfs dump

Published Mar 27, 2025 CVSS 3.1 · 7.8 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

drm/i915: Fix request ref counting during error capture & debugfs dump

When GuC support was added to error capture, the reference counting
around the request object was broken. Fix it up.

The context based search manages the spinlocking around the search
internally. So it needs to grab the reference count internally as
well. The execlist only request based search relies on external
locking, so it needs an external reference count but within the
spinlock not outside it.

The only other caller of the context based search is the code for
dumping engine state to debugfs. That code wasn't previously getting
an explicit reference at all as it does everything while holding the
execlist specific spinlock. So, that needs updaing as well as that
spinlock doesn't help when using GuC submission. Rather than trying to
conditionally get/put depending on submission model, just change it to
always do the get/put.

v2: Explicitly document adding an extra blank line in some dense code
(Andy Shevchenko). Fix multiple potential null pointer derefs in case
of no request found (some spotted by Tvrtko, but there was more!).
Also fix a leaked request in case of !started and another in
__guc_reset_context now that intel_context_find_active_request is
actually reference counting the returned request.
v3: Add a _get suffix to intel_context_find_active_request now that it
grabs a reference (Daniele).
v4: Split the intel_guc_find_hung_context change to a separate patch
and rename intel_context_find_active_request_get to
intel_context_get_active_request (Tvrtko).
v5: s/locking/reference counting/ in commit message (Tvrtko)

(cherry picked from commit 3700e353781e27f1bc7222f51f2cc36cbeb9b4ec)

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
EUVD EUVD EUVD-2023-59739 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/i915: Fix request ref counting during error capture & debugfs dump When GuC support was added to error capture, the reference counting around the request object was broken. Fix it up. The context based search manages the spinlocking around the search internally. So it needs to grab the reference count internally as well. The execlist only request based search relies on external locking, so it needs an external reference count but within the spinlock not outside it. The only other caller of the context based search is the code for dumping engine state to debugfs. That code wasn't previously getting an explicit reference at all as it does everything while holding the execlist specific spinlock. So, that needs updaing as well as that spinlock doesn't help when using GuC submission. Rather than trying to conditionally get/put depending on submission model, just change it to always do the get/put. v2: Explicitly document adding an extra blank line in some dense code (Andy Shevchenko). Fix multiple potential null pointer derefs in case of no request found (some spotted by Tvrtko, but there was more!). Also fix a leaked request in case of !started and another in __guc_reset_context now that intel_context_find_active_request is actually reference counting the returned request. v3: Add a _get suffix to intel_context_find_active_request now that it grabs a reference (Daniele). v4: Split the intel_guc_find_hung_context change to a separate patch and rename intel_context_find_active_request_get to intel_context_get_active_request (Tvrtko). v5: s/locking/reference counting/ in commit message (Tvrtko) (cherry picked from commit 3700e353781e27f1bc7222f51f2cc36cbeb9b4ec)
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses NVD-CWE-Other
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.2:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

threat_severity

Low

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/i915: Fix request ref counting during error capture & debugfs dump When GuC support was added to error capture, the reference counting around the request object was broken. Fix it up. The context based search manages the spinlocking around the search internally. So it needs to grab the reference count internally as well. The execlist only request based search relies on external locking, so it needs an external reference count but within the spinlock not outside it. The only other caller of the context based search is the code for dumping engine state to debugfs. That code wasn't previously getting an explicit reference at all as it does everything while holding the execlist specific spinlock. So, that needs updaing as well as that spinlock doesn't help when using GuC submission. Rather than trying to conditionally get/put depending on submission model, just change it to always do the get/put. v2: Explicitly document adding an extra blank line in some dense code (Andy Shevchenko). Fix multiple potential null pointer derefs in case of no request found (some spotted by Tvrtko, but there was more!). Also fix a leaked request in case of !started and another in __guc_reset_context now that intel_context_find_active_request is actually reference counting the returned request. v3: Add a _get suffix to intel_context_find_active_request now that it grabs a reference (Daniele). v4: Split the intel_guc_find_hung_context change to a separate patch and rename intel_context_find_active_request_get to intel_context_get_active_request (Tvrtko). v5: s/locking/reference counting/ in commit message (Tvrtko) (cherry picked from commit 3700e353781e27f1bc7222f51f2cc36cbeb9b4ec)
Title drm/i915: Fix request ref counting during error capture & debugfs dump
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Oct 15, 2026, 9:41 PM
Reserved
Mar 27, 2025, 4:40 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Mar 27, 2025, 5:15 PM
Modified
Oct 15, 2026, 10:17 PM
Severity
Low
Public date
Mar 27, 2025, 12:00 AM