# CVE-2025-71130: drm/i915/gem: Zero-initialize the eb.vma array in i915_gem_do_execbuffer

> A missing initialization in the i915 driver can lead to a null pointer dereference, causing a system crash or denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 14 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2025-71130, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-71130, GHSA-fcj7-h6w4-whvj, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2025-71130, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2025-71130, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-71130, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-71130

## What is CVE-2025-71130?

CVE-2025-71130 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Jan 2026. 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/i915/gem: Zero-initialize the eb.vma array in i915_gem_do_execbuffer

Initialize the eb.vma array with values of 0 when the eb structure is
first set up. In particular, this sets the eb->vma[i].vma pointers to
NULL, simplifying cleanup and getting rid of the bug described below.

During the execution of eb_lookup_vmas(), the eb->vma array is
successively filled up with struct eb_vma objects. This process includes
calling eb_add_vma(), which might fail; however, even in the event of
failure, eb->vma[i].vma is set for the currently processed buffer.

If eb_add_vma() fails, eb_lookup_vmas() returns with an error, which
prompts a call to eb_release_vmas() to clean up the mess. Since
eb_lookup_vmas() might fail during processing any (possibly not first)
buffer, eb_release_vmas() checks whether a buffer's vma is NULL to know
at what point did the lookup function fail.

In eb_lookup_vmas(), eb->vma[i].vma is set to NULL if either the helper
function eb_lookup_vma() or eb_validate_vma() fails. eb->vma[i+1].vma is
set to NULL in case i915_gem_object_userptr_submit_init() fails; the
current one needs to be cleaned up by eb_release_vmas() at this point,
so the next one is set. If eb_add_vma() fails, neither the current nor
the next vma is set to NULL, which is a source of a NULL deref bug
described in the issue linked in the Closes tag.

When entering eb_lookup_vmas(), the vma pointers are set to the slab
poison value, instead of NULL. This doesn't matter for the actual
lookup, since it gets overwritten anyway, however the eb_release_vmas()
function only recognizes NULL as the stopping value, hence the pointers
are being set to NULL as they go in case of intermediate failure. This
patch changes the approach to filling them all with NULL at the start
instead, rather than handling that manually during failure.

(cherry picked from commit 08889b706d4f0b8d2352b7ca29c2d8df4d0787cd)

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), CWE-457 (Use of Uninitialized Variable)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71130?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71130?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-71130 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71130 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-2025-71130 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71130 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Jan 2026. 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-2025-71130 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-2025-71130/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71130/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71130
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71130
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71130

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71130/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
