---
id: CVE-2026-43237
title: >-
  drm/amdgpu: Refactor amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl for Handling Last Fence Update and
  Timeline Management v4
summary: >-
  In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:


  drm/amdgpu: Refactor amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl for Handling Last Fence Update and
  Timeline Management v4


  This commit simplifies the amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl function, key updates…
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
vendor: Linux
product: Linux
affected:
  - >-
    Linux >= 70773bef4e091ff6d2a91e3dfb4f29013eb81f1f <
    e9e477d3197f7d8955a042c0d7f53f78f13218ba
  - >-
    Linux >= 70773bef4e091ff6d2a91e3dfb4f29013eb81f1f <
    0399b8416ecf64ef86ad23401fe23eabdb07831a
  - >-
    Linux >= 70773bef4e091ff6d2a91e3dfb4f29013eb81f1f <
    bd8150a1b3370a9f7761c5814202a3fe5a79f44f
  - Linux 6.16
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-10-16T15:15:58.192965Z'
published: '2026-05-06'
updated: '2026-10-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-16T15:20:37.448Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-43237'
references:
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e9e477d3197f7d8955a042c0d7f53f78f13218ba'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0399b8416ecf64ef86ad23401fe23eabdb07831a'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bd8150a1b3370a9f7761c5814202a3fe5a79f44f'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00124
epssPercentile: 0.01902
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T17:24:46.689Z'
---

## Overview

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

drm/amdgpu: Refactor amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl for Handling Last Fence Update and Timeline Management v4

This commit simplifies the amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl function, key updates
include:
 - Moved the logic for managing the last update fence directly into
   amdgpu_gem_va_update_vm.
 - Introduced checks for the timeline point to enable conditional
   replacement or addition of fences.

v2: Addressed review comments from Christian.
v3: Updated comments (Christian).
v4: The previous version selected the fence too early and did not manage its
    reference correctly, which could lead to stale or freed fences being used.
    This resulted in refcount underflows and could crash when updating GPU
    timelines.
    The fence is now chosen only after the VA mapping work is completed, and its
    reference is taken safely. After exporting it to the VM timeline syncobj, the
    driver always drops its local fence reference, ensuring balanced refcounting
    and avoiding use-after-free on dma_fence.

	Crash signature:
	[  205.828135] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free.
	[  205.832963] WARNING: CPU: 30 PID: 7274 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0xbe/0x110
	...
	[  206.074014] Call Trace:
	[  206.076488]  <TASK>
	[  206.078608]  amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl+0x6ea/0x740 [amdgpu]
	[  206.084040]  ? __pfx_amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl+0x10/0x10 [amdgpu]
	[  206.089994]  drm_ioctl_kernel+0x86/0xe0 [drm]
	[  206.094415]  drm_ioctl+0x26e/0x520 [drm]
	[  206.098424]  ? __pfx_amdgpu_gem_va_ioctl+0x10/0x10 [amdgpu]
	[  206.104402]  amdgpu_drm_ioctl+0x4b/0x80 [amdgpu]
	[  206.109387]  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x96/0xe0
	[  206.113156]  do_syscall_64+0x66/0x2d0
	...
	[  206.553351] BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffffffc0dfde90
	...
	[  206.553378] RIP: 0010:dma_fence_signal_timestamp_locked+0x39/0xe0
	...
	[  206.553405] Call Trace:
	[  206.553409]  <IRQ>
	[  206.553415]  ? __pfx_drm_sched_fence_free_rcu+0x10/0x10 [gpu_sched]
	[  206.553424]  dma_fence_signal+0x30/0x60
	[  206.553427]  drm_sched_job_done.isra.0+0x123/0x150 [gpu_sched]
	[  206.553434]  dma_fence_signal_timestamp_locked+0x6e/0xe0
	[  206.553437]  dma_fence_signal+0x30/0x60
	[  206.553441]  amdgpu_fence_process+0xd8/0x150 [amdgpu]
	[  206.553854]  sdma_v4_0_process_trap_irq+0x97/0xb0 [amdgpu]
	[  206.554353]  edac_mce_amd(E) ee1004(E)
	[  206.554270]  amdgpu_irq_dispatch+0x150/0x230 [amdgpu]
	[  206.554702]  amdgpu_ih_process+0x6a/0x180 [amdgpu]
	[  206.555101]  amdgpu_irq_handler+0x23/0x60 [amdgpu]
	[  206.555500]  __handle_irq_event_percpu+0x4a/0x1c0
	[  206.555506]  handle_irq_event+0x38/0x80
	[  206.555509]  handle_edge_irq+0x92/0x1e0
	[  206.555513]  __common_interrupt+0x3e/0xb0
	[  206.555519]  common_interrupt+0x80/0xa0
	[  206.555525]  </IRQ>
	[  206.555527]  <TASK>
	...
	[  206.555650] RIP: 0010:dma_fence_signal_timestamp_locked+0x39/0xe0
	...
	[  206.555667] Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

## Affected

- `Linux >= 70773bef4e091ff6d2a91e3dfb4f29013eb81f1f < e9e477d3197f7d8955a042c0d7f53f78f13218ba`
- `Linux >= 70773bef4e091ff6d2a91e3dfb4f29013eb81f1f < 0399b8416ecf64ef86ad23401fe23eabdb07831a`
- `Linux >= 70773bef4e091ff6d2a91e3dfb4f29013eb81f1f < bd8150a1b3370a9f7761c5814202a3fe5a79f44f`
- `Linux 6.16`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.