VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98514: Linux kernel · drm/nouveau: Fix gem reference leak in validate_init()

Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-98514· Low

Not known to be exploited · fixed in af2f48c12365866abb327d75c21a13bbde84719c : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

Severity

Low

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 11% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in af2f48c12365866abb327d75c21a13bbde84719c, 957619120c26d6727efd18504e6b488673d3900a, 8281930fc194ad448aaa5de8dd47fb6fb1cba327 +6

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-g33v-35j5-pxgw

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected >=4.17.12 <4.18	Fixed in af2f48c12365866abb327d75c21a13bbde84719c 957619120c26d6727efd18504e6b488673d3900a 8281930fc194ad448aaa5de8dd47fb6fb1cba327 74485cdc343060fce08f8f3990da524d783e43a7 030e93fc91d55d9487b3b85fc0712bb795d77834 9e13c398a23445baf38f0a59033dd9872a2bfe20 5ea72f7b7139b123713a7983448f910bc4514d9e 4.18 3c80e069470cf73c357c9edb5ec5fba20e6f6a98
LinuxLinux	Affected =4.18	Fixed in–
Linuxlinux/kernel`pkg:deb/linux/kernel`Other threats	Affected >=4.17.12 <4.18 =4.18	Fixed in 4.18

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix has been applied to the Linux kernel to address this gem reference leak in drm/nouveau's validate_init() function. Users should update to the patched kernel version once available. Since this is a kernel-level fix, applying official kernel updates from the vendor or distribution is the recommended remediation.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's drm/nouveau component caused a gem reference leak in the validate_init() function. The issue occurs when ttm_bo_reserve() fails or a "vma not found" error happens, leading to a reference taken by drm_gem_object_lookup() not being released. This is due to the loop breaking without adding the object to any validate list, and validate_fini() only processing spliced lists. The fix involves dropping the reference before breaking out on these error paths.

References

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