In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/drm_exec: fix up contended obj when num_objects is 0 drm_exec_prepare_array() silently returns success without calling drm_exec_lock_contended() when num_objects i…

Overview

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

drm/drm_exec: fix up contended obj when num_objects is 0

drm_exec_prepare_array() silently returns success without calling drm_exec_lock_contended() when num_objects is zero. This breaks the invariant upheld by drm_exec_lock_obj(), where every entry point into the locking sequence must first attempt to lock any previously contended object before proceeding.

Drivers that chain multiple drm_exec_prepare_array() calls per drm_exec_until_all_locked() iteration (e.g. amdgpu's userq signal/wait ioctls, which prepare separate read and write BO arrays) can pass an empty array for one of the two calls. If contention is hit while preparing the non-empty array, exec->contended is set and the loop retries; on retry, the empty-array call preceding it is a no-op that never clears exec->contended, so drm_exec_retry_on_contention() immediately jumps back to the top of the loop without ever reaching the call that would resolve the contention. This spins forever.

Fix it by having drm_exec_prepare_array() call drm_exec_lock_contended() directly when num_objects is zero, so a pending contended object dont loop infinitely.

Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.

Vendor advisories

• Red Hat VEX · Low · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · updated 2026-10-17 · vex