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Response snapshot Nov 6, 2026, 19:41 UTC

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VulnerabilityCVE-2026-53138

Linux kernel: drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops [Why & How] All record-chain walk loops in bios_parser.c and bios_parser2.c use for(;;) and only terminate on a 0xFF record_type sentinel or zero record_size.

At a glance

Exploited
Not known
Severity
7.1 High (CVSS 3.1)
Chance of exploitation
0.1% in the next 30 days
Sources
1 source

What to do

Check the vendor advisory for affected versions and fixes.

Read NVD CVE-2026-53138 (opens a new tab)

What happened

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

drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops

[Why & How] All record-chain walk loops in bios_parser.c and bios_parser2.c use for(;;) and only terminate on a 0xFF record_type sentinel or zero record_size. A malformed VBIOS image missing the terminator record causes unbounded iteration at probe time, potentially hundreds of thousands of iterations with record_size=1. In the final iterations near the BIOS image boundary, struct casts beyond the 2-byte header validated by GET_IMAGE can also read out of bounds.

Cap all 14 record-chain walk loops to BIOS_MAX_NUM_RECORD (256) iterations. The atombios.h defines up to 22 distinct record types and atomfirmware.h has 13. Assuming an average of less than 10 records per type (which is reasonable since most are connector- based) 256 is a generous upper bound.

Continue reading

(cherry picked from commit 95700a3d660287ed657d6892f7be9ffc0e294a93)

Scores and how they were measured

CVSS base severity

7.1

Version 3.1As of

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H

Measurement source (opens a new tab)

How bad it is if exploited. Not a prediction of exploitation or proof you are exposed.

EPSS probability

0.1%

Scored Percentile 2.3%

Model and measurement source (opens a new tab)

A model's estimate of exploitation in the next 30 days, not certainty or your own risk.

Related technology

Sources

  1. Primary source

    NVD CVE-2026-53138 (opens a new tab)

    NVD record: description, CVSS (the CNA score is preferred), affected products, and publication date. Not evidence of exploitation.

    Published Checked

  2. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  3. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  4. Primary source

    NVD CVE API 2.0 (opens a new tab)

    The NVD API page that supplied this CVE record.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  5. Primary source

    FIRST measured EPSS score (opens a new tab)

    Measured EPSS probability and percentile for CVE-2026-53138, scored 2026-11-06. This is a model estimate, not proof of exposure.

    Published Checked

Cite this record

For factual claims, cite the primary sources above; cite KEVWire for its compilation, dates, and classifications.

APA

KEVWire. (2026, November 6). Linux kernel: drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops (CVE-2026-53138). https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-53138

MLA

"Linux kernel: drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops (CVE-2026-53138)." KEVWire, 6 Nov. 2026, kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-53138.

Chicago

KEVWire. "Linux kernel: drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops (CVE-2026-53138)." Last modified November 6, 2026. https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2026-53138.

Evidence summary (plain text)

Linux kernel: drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops (Jun 25, 2026).
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

drm/amd/display: Bound VBIOS record-chain walk loops

[Why & How]
All record-chain walk loops in bios_parser.c and bios_parser2.c use
for(;;) and only terminate on a 0xFF record_type sentinel or zero
record_size. A malformed VBIOS image missing the terminator record
causes unbounded iteration at probe time, potentially hundreds of
thousands of iterations with record_size=1. In the final iterations
near the BIOS image boundary, struct casts beyond the 2-byte header
validated by GET_IMAGE can also read out of bounds.
CVSS 7.1 (version 3.1; evidence as of Nov 6, 2026; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53138).
EPSS 0.1% for the following 30 days, scored Nov 6, 2026 (https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-53138&date=2026-11-06).
Sources:
NVD CVE-2026-53138: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53138
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-11-06T17:06:05.906Z&lastModEndDate=2026-11-06T18:35:59.598Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-11-06T16:31:13.932Z&lastModEndDate=2026-11-06T18:05:57.615Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
NVD CVE API 2.0: https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?lastModStartDate=2026-11-06T15:50:58.372Z&lastModEndDate=2026-11-06T17:30:57.197Z&resultsPerPage=500&startIndex=0
FIRST measured EPSS score: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-53138&date=2026-11-06
Record ID: CVE-2026-53138.
Record origin: Ingested record.
AI evidence: Not assessed.
Known exploitation: Not assessed.
Zero-day status: Not assessed. KEV membership alone does not establish zero-day status.
About this data

This record was ingested from a data source. Retrieved: Nov 6, 2026, 19:36 UTC. Ingestion is not an independent editorial investigation.

NVD status: Analyzed. Publication in the NVD is not evidence of exploitation.

A CISA KEV listing documents known exploitation, not necessarily a zero-day; absence from the catalog does not prove a vulnerability has never been exploited.

Technology tags indicate possible relevance, not verified exposure. Confirm the affected product, version, and configuration against your own inventory; KEVWire does not scan your systems.

A personal reading checklist on this device, not verified remediation.

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Record details

Record detail