# CVE-2025-39807: drm/mediatek: Add error handling for old state CRTC in atomic_disable

> A missing NULL check in the Mediatek DRM driver causes a kernel panic during hotplug events, leading to denial of service.

- **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:** 16 Sep 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-39807, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-39807, GHSA-4xc7-4q59-wfx3, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-39807, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-39807

## What is CVE-2025-39807?

CVE-2025-39807 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Sep 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/mediatek: Add error handling for old state CRTC in atomic_disable

Introduce error handling to address an issue where, after a hotplug
event, the cursor continues to update. This situation can lead to a
kernel panic due to accessing the NULL `old_state->crtc`.

E,g.
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address
Call trace:
 mtk_crtc_plane_disable+0x24/0x140
 mtk_plane_atomic_update+0x8c/0xa8
 drm_atomic_helper_commit_planes+0x114/0x2c8
 drm_atomic_helper_commit_tail_rpm+0x4c/0x158
 commit_tail+0xa0/0x168
 drm_atomic_helper_commit+0x110/0x120
 drm_atomic_commit+0x8c/0xe0
 drm_atomic_helper_update_plane+0xd4/0x128
 __setplane_atomic+0xcc/0x110
 drm_mode_cursor_common+0x250/0x440
 drm_mode_cursor_ioctl+0x44/0x70
 drm_ioctl+0x264/0x5d8
 __arm64_sys_ioctl+0xd8/0x510
 invoke_syscall+0x6c/0xe0
 do_el0_svc+0x68/0xe8
 el0_svc+0x34/0x60
 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x1c/0xf8
 el0t_64_sync+0x180/0x188

Adding NULL pointer checks to ensure stability by preventing operations
on an invalid CRTC state.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-39807?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-39807?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-39807 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-39807 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-2025-39807 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-39807 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 16 Sep 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-2025-39807 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-2025-39807/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39807/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-39807
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-39807
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-39807

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39807/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.