How do I check whether I am affected by CVE-2026-98508?

- `uname -r` and compare against the kernel release that contains the upstream fix for CVE-2026-98508 - `lsmod | grep virtio_gpu` to see whether the virtio GPU driver is loaded - unknown for the exact affected version range

What is the fix for CVE-2026-98508?

- Update the Linux kernel to a release that includes the upstream commit 'drm/virtio: fix NULL pointer dereference on fence allocation failure' - unknown for the exact fixed version number

Who is not affected by CVE-2026-98508?

Not affected if: bare-metal, no-virtio-gpu.

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Linux kernel: virtio GPU driver crashes on fence allocation failure

The virtio GPU driver in the Linux kernel does not check whether fence allocation succeeded, so a memory-pressure failure leads to a NULL pointer dereference in the execbuffer ioctl. The sources describe a kernel oops (denial of service); they do not describe code execution.

Summary written from the sources below. Check the originals before acting.

Known so far

3/6

unknown

no CVSS yet; severity from the sources

known so far3 of 6

missing: versions, primary source, exploitation

First public: Oct 18, 2026 UTC
Last modified: Oct 19, 2026
Status: open
Known exploitation: None reported
Public exploit: None on GitHub
EPSS: not scored

First seen by InfraStack 2026-10-23 21:57 UTC. All times on this page are UTC.

Why it is unknown, and not just CVSS

Likelihood → · Impact ↓

critical

high

medium

high

medium

low

medium

low

Exploited: No reports yet.
Needs login: Yes.
Needs a special setup: Yes.
Reachable from: local.
Worst case: Local user crashes the kernel through the GPU ioctl.
CVSS said: No score. The facts above say low; we keep the sources' unknown until an analyst looks.

Who is affected

Systems running Linux kernels with the virtio GPU DRM driver loaded, typically virtual machines using virtio-gpu under QEMU or KVM. Bare-metal hosts without virtio-gpu and systems without the driver loaded are unlikely to be exposed. The sources do not state the affected version range.

Know the next one before it finds you.

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Live › vulnerability › CVE-2026-98508

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unknownInfrastructure

Linux kernel: virtio GPU driver crashes on fence allocation failure

Summary written from the sources below. Check the originals before acting.

Known so far

3/6

unknown

no CVSS yet; severity from the sources

known so far3 of 6

missing: versions, primary source, exploitation

First public: Oct 18, 2026 UTC
Last modified: Oct 19, 2026
Status: open
Known exploitation: None reported
Public exploit: None on GitHub
EPSS: not scored

First seen by InfraStack 2026-10-23 21:57 UTC. All times on this page are UTC.

Why it is unknown, and not just CVSS

Likelihood → · Impact ↓

critical

high

medium

high

medium

low

medium

low

Exploited: No reports yet.
Needs login: Yes.
Needs a special setup: Yes.
Reachable from: local.
Worst case: Local user crashes the kernel through the GPU ioctl.
CVSS said: No score. The facts above say low; we keep the sources' unknown until an analyst looks.

Who is affected

Know the next one before it finds you.

Add to Slack

Oops: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000012: 0000 [#1] SMP KASAN NOPTI KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000090-0x0000000000000097] CPU: 1 UID: 0 PID: 9991 Comm: syz.0.121 Not tainted 7.2.0 #4 PREEMPT(full) Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.17.0-0-gb52ca86e094d-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:virtio_gpu_fence_event_create drivers/gpu/drm/virtio/virtgpu_submit.c:295 [inline] RIP: 0010:virtio_gpu_init_submit drivers/gpu/drm/virtio/virtgpu_submit.c:398 [inline] RIP: 0010:virtio_gpu_execbuffer_ioctl+0xc78/0x1aa0 drivers/gpu/drm/virtio/virtgpu_submit.c:505 Code: 85 ed 0f 85 21 09 00 00 e8 05 5a c9 fb 48 8b 44 24 10 48 8d b8 90 00 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 9a 0d 00 00 48 8b 44 24 10 4c 89 b0 90 00 00 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc900039dfad0 EFLAGS: 00010216 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffc900039dfdd8 RCX: ffffffff85f6fd3d RDX: 0000000000000012 RSI: ffffffff85f6fd4b RDI: 0000000000000090 RBP: 0000000000000000 R0virtio_gpu_virgl_process_cmd: ctrl 0x102, error 0x1203 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff8880132c4000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff888073b6c700 R15: 000000000000003b FS: 00007fab480b96c0(0000) GS:ffff8880eb6e9000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007effbf5e55a8 CR3: 0000000048d19000 CR4: 0000000000350ef0 Call Trace: <TASK> drm_ioctl_kernel+0x1f4/0x3e0 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_ioctl.c:817 drm_ioctl+0x5f4/0xc70 drivers/gpu/drm/drm_ioctl.c:914 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:597 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:583 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x18e/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:583 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x116/0x800 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f RIP: 0033:0x7fab471a82bd Code: ff c3 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 90 f3 0f 1e fa 48 89 f8 48 89 f7 48 89 d6 48 89 ca 4d 89 c2 4d 89 c8 4c 8b 4c 24 08 0f 05 <48> 3d 01 f0 ff ff 73 01 c3 48 c7 c1 b0 ff ff ff f7 d8 64 89 01 48 RSP: 002b:00007fab480b9018 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000010 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 00007fab47435fa0 RCX: 00007fab471a82bd RDX: 00002000000000c0 RSI: 00000000c0406442 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007fab480b9080 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 0000000000000001 R13: 00007fab47436038 R14: 00007fab47435fa0 R15: 00007ffe85ab0740 </TASK> Modules linked in: ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- RIP: 0010:virtio_gpu_fence_event_create drivers/gpu/drm/virtio/virtgpu_submit.c:295 [inline] RIP: 0010:virtio_gpu_init_submit drivers/gpu/drm/virtio/virtgpu_submit.c:398 [inline] RIP: 0010:virtio_gpu_execbuffer_ioctl+0xc78/0x1aa0 drivers/gpu/drm/virtio/virtgpu_submit.c:505 Code: 85 ed 0f 85 21 09 00 00 e8 05 5a c9 fb 48 8b 44 24 10 48 8d b8 90 00 00 00 48 b8 00 00 00 00 00 fc ff df 48 89 fa 48 c1 ea 03 <80> 3c 02 00 0f 85 9a 0d 00 00 48 8b 44 24 10 4c 89 b0 90 00 00 00 RSP: 0018:ffffc900039dfad0 EFLAGS: 00010216 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffc900039dfdd8 RCX: ffffffff85f6fd3d RDX: 0000000000000012 RSI: ffffffff85f6fd4b RDI: 0000000000000090 RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000005 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff8880132c4000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff888073b6c700 R15: 000000000000003b FS: 00007fab480b96c0(0000) GS:ffff888098ae9000(0000) knlGS:00000000

Linux kernel: virtio GPU driver crashes on fence allocation failure

Why it is unknown, and not just CVSS

Who is affected

Know the next one before it finds you.

Linux kernel: virtio GPU driver crashes on fence allocation failure

Why it is unknown, and not just CVSS

Who is affected

Know the next one before it finds you.

How to check

The fix

Who had it, and when

What the sources say, verbatim

Sources