# CVE-2026-90363: drm/msm: don't tear down KMS twice when KMS init fails

> A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel MSM DRM driver causes a crash when KMS initialization fails, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-90363, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-90363, GHSA-356c-wqmf-cf5h, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-90363

## What is CVE-2026-90363?

CVE-2026-90363 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 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/msm: don't tear down KMS twice when KMS init fails

When priv->kms_init() (mdp4_kms_init() / mdp5_kms_init()) fails partway
through, both display drivers already tear their KMS state down via
mdp4_destroy() / mdp5_kms_destroy() before returning the error. The
common error path in msm_drm_init() then runs msm_drm_uninit() ->
msm_drm_kms_uninit(), which tries to destroy the very same KMS a second
time, which causes a use-after-free crash.

Bring MDP4/MDP5 in line with the DPU driver whose dpu_kms_init() doesn't
perform error cleanup on the failure. Let the common path own the
cleanup, instead of freeing the KMS from their error paths.

The crash trace for the reference:

  __lock_acquire from lock_acquire (kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5906 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5863)
  lock_acquire from touch_wq_lockdep_map (kernel/workqueue.c:4094 (discriminator 1))
  touch_wq_lockdep_map from __flush_workqueue (kernel/workqueue.c:4136)
  __flush_workqueue from msm_drm_kms_uninit (drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_kms.c:243 (discriminator 33))
  msm_drm_kms_uninit from msm_drm_uninit (drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c:93)
  msm_drm_uninit from msm_drm_init (drivers/gpu/drm/msm/msm_drv.c:184)
  msm_drm_init from try_to_bring_up_aggregate_device (drivers/base/component.c:249 drivers/base/component.c:227)
  try_to_bring_up_aggregate_device from __component_add (drivers/base/component.c:269 drivers/base/component.c:748)
  __component_add from dsi_host_attach (drivers/gpu/drm/msm/dsi/dsi_host.c:1739)
  dsi_host_attach from mipi_dsi_attach (drivers/gpu/drm/drm_mipi_dsi.c:383)
  mipi_dsi_attach from sharp_nt_panel_probe (drivers/gpu/drm/panel/panel-sharp-ls043t1le01.c:247)

Patchwork: https://patchwork.freedesktop.org/patch/742068/

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-90363?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-90363?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-90363 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-90363 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-90363 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-90363 is an use after free vulnerability in Linux, published on 17 Sep 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-2026-90363 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-90363/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90363/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-90363
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-90363
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-90363

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-90363/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.