# CVE-2025-37965: drm/amd/display: Fix invalid context error in dml helper

> A bug in the Linux kernel AMD display driver causes a system crash when memory allocation occurs in an invalid atomic context.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 May 2025
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-37965, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-37965, GHSA-7898-c345-v398, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-37965

## What is CVE-2025-37965?

CVE-2025-37965 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

drm/amd/display: Fix invalid context error in dml helper

[Why]
"BUG: sleeping function called from invalid context" error.
after:
"drm/amd/display: Protect FPU in dml2_validate()/dml21_validate()"

The populate_dml_plane_cfg_from_plane_state() uses the GFP_KERNEL flag
for memory allocation, which shouldn't be used in atomic contexts.

The allocation is needed only for using another helper function
get_scaler_data_for_plane().

[How]
Modify helpers to pass a pointer to scaler_data within existing context,
eliminating the need for dynamic memory allocation/deallocation
and copying.

(cherry picked from commit bd3e84bc98f81b44f2c43936bdadc3241d654259)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-37965?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-37965?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-37965 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37965 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-37965 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-37965 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-37965 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37965/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37965/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-37965
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-37965
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-37965

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-37965/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.