---
id: "CVE-2026-98566"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98566"]
title: "Linux kernel: PowerVR DRM freelist reconstruction lacks bounds check"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["drm", "imagination-gpu", "infrastructure", "linux-kernel", "powervr"]
not_affected_if: ["no-powervr-gpu"]
published_at: "2026-10-18T16:17:08+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T05:23:16+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98566", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: PowerVR DRM freelist reconstruction lacks bounds check

The Linux kernel's Imagination PowerVR GPU driver (drm/imagination) used a firmware-supplied count to index fixed-size freelist arrays without bounding it. The fix clamps that count to the request capacity; the sources do not say what an attacker gets beyond an out-of-bounds access.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:15+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98566

## From the sources

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

drm/imagination: clamp freelist reconstruction requests

The firmware reconstruction count controls accesses to the request's
fixed freelist ID array and the copy into the fixed response array.
Neither access currently bounds the count to those protocol arrays.

Clamp the count to the request capacity, which is shared by the response
layout, and use that count consistently for reconstruction and response
publication. Keep the firmware recovery exchange instead of dropping an
oversized request without a response, as discussed with the firmware
maintainer.

The issue was found by our static-analysis tool.

---

_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_