---
id: CVE-2026-98515
title: 'kernel: drm/nouveau: fix double-free in nvif_vmm_dtor (CVE-2026-98515)'
summary: >-
  A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Nouveau graphics driver. This
  vulnerability allows a local attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by
  crashing the system or potentially escalate privileges. During device
  initialization failures,…
severity: medium
cvss: 4.7
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: vendor
cwe: CWE-1341
vendor: Red Hat
product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
affected:
  - enterprise_linux 10
  - enterprise_linux 6
  - enterprise_linux 8
  - enterprise_linux 9
  - openshift_container_platform 4
published: '2026-10-18'
updated: '2026-10-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-24T14:23:28+00:00'
source: CSAF
sourceUrl: 'https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98515.json'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98515.json
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-98515'
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2554836'
  - url: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98515'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98515'
  - url: >-
      https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/security/vulns.git/plain/cve/published/2026/CVE-2026-98515.mbox
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/023e7a01f8fb27799f0987b5bcda325d73a2904c'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/375901ac0f286e81be00a4126e57d488cb401884'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf542ecd4f60d4689818d194e7ca74772fe0f8b5'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f09f4a536935b15539f2de9fe775a2641202be90'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/279e5ac137370e274a09dd552547ae6bddd0d4d5'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/109a8d2d5b7d2719ebe09df3f9241023900b3846'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/872a5473c02a26c955be44d52b7ab2f8ea70a2cf'
  - url: 'https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/97077ac87afe9e91ec074ef0be64454e7ccbf344'
tags:
  - csaf
  - vex
  - red-hat
  - cve.org
  - score-dispute
epss: 0.00169
epssPercentile: 0.06262
scores:
  vendor: 4.7
  cna: 7.8
ingestedAt: '2026-10-18T15:45:12.284Z'
---

## Overview

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Nouveau graphics driver. This vulnerability allows a local attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by crashing the system or potentially escalate privileges. During device initialization failures, the driver's error-handling path executes redundant cleanup routines that release already-freed memory. This improper resource cleanup causes a double-free condition, leading to kernel memory corruption.

## Vendor advisories

- **Red Hat VEX** · Moderate · affected: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 · no fix planned: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, … · updated 2026-10-24 · [vex](https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-98515.json)

**kernel: drm/nouveau: fix double-free in nvif_vmm_dtor** — rated Moderate by Red Hat. Released 2026-10-18, updated 2026-10-24.

Affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

No fix planned:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

Not affected:

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

## Remediation

Out of support scope