CVE-2026-98521
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's i915 graphics driver. When a graphics buffer object is concurrently destroyed while its busy status is being queried, an improper teardown sequence can cause the driver to restart its iteration indefinitely. A local attacker can exploit this race condition to trigger an infinite loop, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) and system hang.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate impact because exploitation is constrained to authenticated local users with direct access to render or graphics device nodes, limiting the blast radius to a denial of service without compromising data confidentiality or system integrity. Exploitation requires a race condition during concurrent graphics buffer operations, which occurs only on systems actively utilizing Intel integrated GPU hardware. Headless server installations, virtual machines without PCI passthrough, and architectures using non-Intel graphics adapters do not load this driver and remain unaffected.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.5 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Amplification
An infinite loop will cause unexpected consumption of resources, such as CPU cycles or memory. The software's operation may slow down, or cause a long time to respond.
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