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Linux Kernel EUVDEUVD-2026-59753

| CVE-2026-74446 HIGH
2026-08-15 Linux GHSA-3f2f-q78g-jqw3
7.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Recon
    Obtain low-privilege local account with /dev/kfd access
  2. Delivery
    Initialize AMD KFD process owning multiple events
  3. Exploit
    Spawn concurrent thread racing event create/destroy operations
  4. Install
    Trigger CRIU checkpoint call without event_mutex held
  5. C2
    Win TOCTOU race during count-to-walk window
  6. Execute
    Trigger heap OOB write or use-after-free in kernel heap
  7. Impact
    Leverage memory corruption primitive for local privilege escalation to root

Vulnerability Assessment

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires all of the following specific conditions: (1) an AMD GPU present on the target system with the drm/amdkfd kernel module loaded and functional; (2) a low-privilege local user account with read-write access to /dev/kfd - typically granted via membership in the 'render' group or equivalent udev-managed group, which is non-default for arbitrary local users but standard for GPU compute users; (3) the ability to initiate a CRIU checkpoint of a process that owns KFD events; (4) concurrent ability to call kfd_event_create() or kfd_event_destroy() from a second thread within the same process during the checkpoint window. CRIU-based GPU process checkpointing is a specialized operational workflow not present in typical Linux deployments - the vast majority of AMD GPU systems do not run this code path at all. Remote exploitation is not possible; the attack vector is strictly local (AV:L). The race window between count and IDR walk may require multiple attempts to win consistently, though no experimental data on window width or reliability is available from public sources.

Impact

The NVD-assigned CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, score 7.8) rates this as High severity with low attack complexity, but the AC:L rating is independently disputed here: exploiting a kernel TOCTOU race requires precise thread scheduling to win the count-to-walk window, which aligns more accurately with AC:H in standard race-condition exploit practice - operators should verify this assessment against any supplemental vendor guidance. EPSS at 0.17% (6th percentile) signals very low current exploitation probability, with no evidence of organized adversary activity. No CISA KEV entry and no public proof-of-concept code have been identified. Real-world risk is bounded by the requirement for an AMD GPU to be present with the amdkfd module loaded, a process actively undergoing CRIU checkpointing, and a concurrent thread racing KFD event lifecycle operations - a narrow operational window absent from most general-purpose Linux deployments. That said, even a mid-sized enterprise IT team in malbork running AMD GPU clusters for HPC or machine learning pipelines with CRIU-based container live migration should treat the patch cycle as urgent, because the resulting heap corruption primitives - out-of-bounds write and use-after-free - are well-understood kernel exploit building blocks that skilled local attackers have repeatedly weaponized for privilege escalation to root. The AC:L versus AC:H discrepancy is the key unresolved signal in this analysis.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local attacker with a low-privilege account on a Linux system with an AMD GPU initializes a KFD process that owns multiple events, then spawns a second thread that rapidly and continuously creates and destroys KFD events. Simultaneously, the attacker initiates a CRIU checkpoint of the process, and by winning the race between kfd_get_num_events() and the subsequent IDR fill walk, triggers either a heap out-of-bounds write (if an event is inserted in the window) or a use-after-free (if an event is removed), providing kernel memory corruption primitives for a subsequent local privilege escalation to root. No public proof-of-concept code has been identified at time of analysis.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 17, 2026

Concurrent event manipulation during CRIU checkpointing in the Linux kernel's AMD GPU driver (drm/amdkfd) exposes a race condition leading to heap out-of-bounds writes or use-after-free memory corruption. A low-privileged local attacker on a system with an AMD GPU can exploit the unprotected gap between the event count and IDR walk in kfd_criu_checkpoint_events() by racing event creation or destruction from a second thread within the same process, producing kernel heap corruption primitives exploitable for local privilege escalation. No public exploit code and no CISA KEV entry have been identified at time of analysis; EPSS is 0.17% (6th percentile), reflecting low current adversary interest despite the high C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS impact triad.

RemediationAI

Upgrade to a patched Linux kernel release: 6.6.151, 6.12.103, or 6.18.44 for LTS stable series users, 7.1.8 for the 7.1 series, or 7.2-rc6 for mainline tracking. Patch commits are available at the kernel.org stable tree references listed above. As a compensating control on systems where immediate kernel upgrade is not feasible, restricting unprivileged local user access to AMD GPU compute resources by tightening /dev/kfd permissions (e.g., removing untrusted users from the render group or applying a udev rule to restrict node ownership) reduces the attack surface by preventing those users from invoking the vulnerable CRIU checkpoint path - the trade-off being that affected users lose GPU compute access entirely. Alternatively, disabling CRIU integration at the operational level by preventing CRIU-based process checkpointing on AMD GPU workloads eliminates the vulnerable code path if live migration is not a business requirement, with the trade-off of losing container checkpoint-restore capability for those workloads.

Affected VersionsENISA

Linux patch: 6.18.44
Linux 40e8a766a761f7fdc8530347527b344fddf6f1a8 <bed80be08c0bee47fa242a4256ac873477c815f8
Linux 40e8a766a761f7fdc8530347527b344fddf6f1a8 <6a52f48157fa7fb81e0c146937fd6c8b0c1cfdbd
Linux patch: 7.2-rc6
Linux 40e8a766a761f7fdc8530347527b344fddf6f1a8 <ff8bc5a68a9a70bdc38d61a72c7a49c56063f9d2
Linux patch: 6.6.151
Linux patch: 0
Linux patch: 7.1.8
Linux 5.18
Linux 40e8a766a761f7fdc8530347527b344fddf6f1a8 <2040b7e39027cb83bb8c7b84a4c95c2f6053c32f
Linux 40e8a766a761f7fdc8530347527b344fddf6f1a8 <9a7f765985f64fd4a7a58f7bc9cd80a1f4230628
Linux patch: 6.12.103

Affected Packages

euvd linux no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The affected code resides in the AMD Kernel Fusion Driver (amdkfd) subsystem within the DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) infrastructure of the Linux kernel. The driver supports CRIU (Checkpoint/Restore In Userspace), a Linux feature enabling process snapshots for live migration or restart. The vulnerability is a classic time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race in kfd_criu_checkpoint_events(): the function first calls kfd_get_num_events() to count entries in p->event_idr (an IDR - a kernel sparse ID-to-pointer radix tree), allocates a heap buffer sized to that count, then iterates the same IDR again to populate the buffer - all without holding p->event_mutex. Because kfd_event_create() and kfd_event_destroy() acquire p->event_mutex but not p->mutex, a second thread in the same process can legally modify the IDR during the window between count and fill. An insertion causes the fill-walk to produce more entries than the allocation holds, resulting in a heap out-of-bounds write; a deletion causes the walker to dereference a concurrently freed entry, producing a use-after-free. The fix holds p->event_mutex across both the count and the walk, releasing it before copy_to_user(), which operates only on the local buffer. Though CWE is listed as N/A in the input, the root cause maps to CWE-362 (concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization) with secondary CWE-787 and CWE-416 impacts depending on which race outcome is triggered.

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Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY 7.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 7.0 HIGH

Race condition exploitation requires precise thread timing to win the count-to-walk IDR window, justifying AC:H over the NVD AC:L; AV:L and PR:L reflect mandatory local AMD GPU access.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE HIGH
Red Hat 7.0 HIGH

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
CVSS changed
Aug 17, 2026 - 06:22 NVD
7.8 (HIGH)
Patch available
Aug 15, 2026 - 13:04 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 12:26 cve.org
HIGH 7.8
CVE Published
Aug 15, 2026 - 12:26 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

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

drm/amdkfd: hold event_mutex while checkpointing CRIU events

kfd_criu_checkpoint_events() counts the entries in p->event_idr via kfd_get_num_events(), allocates an array sized to that count, and then walks the same IDR to fill it. Neither the count nor the walk holds p->event_mutex.

The CRIU checkpoint caller holds only p->mutex. Event create and destroy (kfd_event_create()/kfd_event_destroy()) take p->event_mutex and do not take p->mutex, so a second thread in the same process can insert or remove events between the count and the walk. If an event is inserted, the walk iterates more entries than were counted and writes past the end of the ev_privs allocation; if an event is removed, the walk dereferences an entry that is being freed.

Hold p->event_mutex across the count and the walk so both observe a consistent view of p->event_idr. The lock is released before copy_to_user(), which only touches the local buffer. The caller already holds p->mutex and the create/destroy paths never take p->mutex, so the p->mutex -> p->event_mutex order is not inverted and no deadlock is introduced.

(cherry picked from commit ff57e223ab105795b05d3ef3f3c35a5a441bcbaa)

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2026-74446 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Linux systems with AMD GPUs that could allow low-privileged users to bypass access controls and gain system-level privileges. Although no active exploitation has been observed, organizations with AMD GPU infrastructure face potential compromise if left unpatched. Rapid deployment of the available vendor patch is essential to maintain security boundaries and compliance with least-privilege access controls.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 94% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
AMD GPU Linux systems common in HPC and ML cluster deployments
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
High

Priority Score

39
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +39
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Important
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 16.0 Affected

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