CVE-2025-40288 drm/amdgpu: Fix NULL pointer dereference in VRAM logic for APU devices
A local attacker can trigger a kernel crash on AMD APU systems by accessing uninitialized VRAM manager structures, causing a denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2025-40288?
CVE-2025-40288 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Dec 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/amdgpu: Fix NULL pointer dereference in VRAM logic for APU devices
Previously, APU platforms (and other scenarios with uninitialized VRAM managers) triggered a NULL pointer dereference in `ttm_resource_manager_usage()`. The root cause is not that the `struct ttm_resource_manager *man` pointer itself is NULL, but that `man->bdev` (the backing device pointer within the manager) remains uninitialized (NULL) on APUs—since APUs lack dedicated VRAM and do not fully set up VRAM manager structures. When `ttm_resource_manager_usage()` attempts to acquire `man->bdev->lru_lock`, it dereferences the NULL `man->bdev`, leading to a kernel OOPS.
1. **amdgpu_cs.c**: Extend the existing bandwidth control check in `amdgpu_cs_get_threshold_for_moves()` to include a check for `ttm_resource_manager_used()`. If the manager is not used (uninitialized `bdev`), return 0 for migration thresholds immediately—skipping VRAM-specific logic that would trigger the NULL dereference.
2. **amdgpu_kms.c**: Update the `AMDGPU_INFO_VRAM_USAGE` ioctl and memory info reporting to use a conditional: if the manager is used, return the real VRAM usage; otherwise, return 0. This avoids accessing `man->bdev` when it is NULL.
3. **amdgpu_virt.c**: Modify the vf2pf (virtual function to physical function) data write path. Use `ttm_resource_manager_used()` to check validity: if the manager is usable, calculate `fb_usage` from VRAM usage; otherwise, set `fb_usage` to 0 (APUs have no discrete framebuffer to report).
This approach is more robust than APU-specific checks because it: - Works for all scenarios where the VRAM manager is uninitialized (not just APUs), - Aligns with TTM's design by using its native helper function, - Preserves correct behavior for discrete GPUs (which have fully initialized `man->bdev` and pass the `ttm_resource_manager_used()` check).
v4: use ttm_resource_manager_used(&adev->mman.vram_mgr.manager) instead of checking the adev->gmc.is_app_apu flag (Christian)
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-40288?
How do I fix CVE-2025-40288?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-40288 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-40288 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as BELL-CVE-2025-40288, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-40288, GHSA-5ppv-prh8-hj77, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2025-40288, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-40288, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-40288 and 3 more.