---
id: "CVE-2026-98949"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-98949"]
title: "Linux kernel: PowerVR driver leaks GEM references and misLinks mappings on remap"
severity: "unknown"
cvss: null
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["drm", "imagination-gpu", "linux-kernel", "package", "powervr"]
not_affected_if: ["no-powervr-gpu"]
published_at: "2026-10-23T13:17:16+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-25T04:57:55+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98949", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00"}]
---

# Linux kernel: PowerVR driver leaks GEM references and misLinks mappings on remap

The Linux kernel's Imagination PowerVR DRM driver takes a GEM reference on each split part of a GPU mapping and never drops it, leaking memory. It also links the split parts to the wrong buffer object's VM record, which triggers a kernel warning.

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

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T21:57:33+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98949

## From the sources

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

drm/imagination: Fix reference and vm_bo handling in remap()

When a map overlaps part of an existing mapping, pvr_vm_gpuva_remap()
splits the mapping into prev/next parts covering what the request did
not take, instead of creating something new. It gets two things wrong.

- A GEM reference is taken for each part but it's never needed and never
  dropped, so it leaks one reference per split (remap-next-in-2m in
  tests/imagination/pvr_vm_map.c):

    CRITICAL: 33558528 bytes of shmem still held after close

- The parts still belong to the original object being split, but
  pvr_vm_gpuva_remap() links them to ctx->gpuvm_bo, the new object's
  vm_bo:

    prev_va --obj--> BO_A          BO_B <--obj-- vm_bo (ctx->gpuvm_bo)
            \___________link___________/  (mismatch: BO_A != BO_B)

  drm_gpuva_link() catches the mismatch:

    WARNING: drivers/gpu/drm/drm_gpuvm.c:2108 at drm_gpuva_link+0x2ec/0x310
      drm_WARN_ON(obj != vm_bo->obj)
    Call trace:
     drm_gpuva_link
     pvr_vm_gpuva_remap
     __drm_gpuvm_sm_map
     pvr_vm_map
     pvr_ioctl_vm_map

  Link them to op->remap.unmap->va->vm_bo instead.

The locking of the GPUVA lists of the other objects touched by a split is
not addressed here; it is handled by switching the GPUVM to immediate
mode.

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