Highly exploitable, CVE-2025-40096 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Deferred
Last updated: 🕕 30 Jul 2026, 06:24 UTC
Originally published on: 🕙 30 Oct 2025, 10:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 272 days
CVSS Release: version 3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2025-40096: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/sched: Fix potential double free in drm_sched_job_add_resv_dependencies When adding dependencies with drm_sched_job_add_dependency(), that function consumes the fence reference both on success and failure, so in the latter case the dma_fence_put() on the error path (xarray failed to expand) is a double free. Interestingly this bug appears to have been present ever since commit ebd5f74255b9 ("drm/sched: Add dependency tracking"), since the code back then looked like this: drm_sched_job_add_implicit_dependencies(): ... for (i = 0; i < fence_count; i++) { ret = drm_sched_job_add_dependency(job, fences[i]); if (ret) break; } for (; i < fence_count; i++) dma_fence_put(fences[i]); Which means for the failing 'i' the dma_fence_put was already a double free. Possibly there were no users at that time, or the test cases were insufficient to hit it. The bug was then only noticed and fixed after commit 9c2ba265352a ("drm/scheduler: use new iterator in drm_sched_job_add_implicit_dependencies v2") landed, with its fixup of commit 4eaf02d6076c ("drm/scheduler: fix drm_sched_job_add_implicit_dependencies"). At that point it was a slightly different flavour of a double free, which commit 963d0b356935 ("drm/scheduler: fix drm_sched_job_add_implicit_dependencies harder") noticed and attempted to fix. But it only moved the double free from happening inside the drm_sched_job_add_dependency(), when releasing the reference not yet obtained, to the caller, when releasing the reference already released by the former in the failure case. As such it is not easy to identify the right target for the fixes tag so lets keep it simple and just continue the chain. While fixing we also improve the comment and explain the reason for taking the reference and not dropping it.
The exploitability of CVE-2025-40096 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2025-40096 presents an accessible attack vector with minimal effort required. Restricting access controls and implementing security updates are critical to reducing exploitation risks.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2025-40096, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2025-40096, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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