In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
drm/i915/gt: Check set_default_submission() before deferencing
When the i915 driver firmware binaries are not present, the set_default_submission pointer is not set. This pointer is dereferenced during suspend anyways.
Add a check to make sure it is set before dereferencing.
[ 23.289926] PM: suspend entry (deep) [ 23.293558] Filesystems sync: 0.000 seconds [ 23.298010] Freezing user space processes [ 23.302771] Freezing user space processes completed (elapsed 0.000 seconds) [ 23.309766] OOM killer disabled. [ 23.313027] Freezing remaining freezable tasks [ 23.318540] Freezing remaining freezable tasks completed (elapsed 0.001 seconds) [ 23.342038] serial 00:05: disabled [ 23.345719] serial 00:02: disabled [ 23.349342] serial 00:01: disabled [ 23.353782] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Synchronizing SCSI cache [ 23.358993] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Synchronizing SCSI cache [ 23.361635] ata1.00: Entering standby power mode [ 23.368863] ata2.00: Entering standby power mode [ 23.445187] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [ 23.452194] #PF: supervisor instruction fetch in kernel mode [ 23.457896] #PF: error_code(0x0010) - not-present page [ 23.463065] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 23.465640] Oops: Oops: 0010 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 23.469869] CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 211 Comm: kworker/u48:18 Tainted: G S W 6.19.0-rc4-00020-gf0b9d8eb98df #10 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 23.482512] Tainted: [S]=CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC, [W]=WARN [ 23.496511] Workqueue: async async_run_entry_fn [ 23.501087] RIP: 0010:0x0 [ 23.503755] Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0xffffffffffffffd6. [ 23.510324] RSP: 0018:ffffb4a60065fca8 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 23.515592] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffff9f428290e000 RCX: 000000000000000f [ 23.522765] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000282 RDI: ffff9f428290e000 [ 23.529937] RBP: ffff9f4282907070 R08: ffff9f4281130428 R09: 00000000ffffffff [ 23.537111] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffff9f42829070f8 [ 23.544284] R13: ffff9f4282906028 R14: ffff9f4282900000 R15: ffff9f4282906b68 [ 23.551457] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9f466b2cf000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 23.559588] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 23.565365] CR2: ffffffffffffffd6 CR3: 000000031c230001 CR4: 0000000000f70ef0 [ 23.572539] PKRU: 55555554 [ 23.575281] Call Trace: [ 23.577770] <TASK> [ 23.579905] intel_engines_reset_default_submission+0x42/0x60 [ 23.585695] __intel_gt_unset_wedged+0x191/0x200 [ 23.590360] intel_gt_unset_wedged+0x20/0x40 [ 23.594675] gt_sanitize+0x15e/0x170 [ 23.598290] i915_gem_suspend_late+0x6b/0x180 [ 23.602692] i915_drm_suspend_late+0x35/0xf0 [ 23.607008] ? __pfx_pci_pm_suspend_late+0x10/0x10 [ 23.611843] dpm_run_callback+0x78/0x1c0 [ 23.615817] device_suspend_late+0xde/0x2e0 [ 23.620037] async_suspend_late+0x18/0x30 [ 23.624082] async_run_entry_fn+0x25/0xa0 [ 23.628129] process_one_work+0x15b/0x380 [ 23.632182] worker_thread+0x2a5/0x3c0 [ 23.635973] ? __pfx_worker_thread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.640279] kthread+0xf6/0x1f0 [ 23.643464] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.647263] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.651045] ret_from_fork+0x131/0x190 [ 23.654837] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 23.658634] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 23.662597] </TASK> [ 23.664826] Modules linked in: [ 23.667914] CR2: 0000000000000000 [ 23.671271] ------------[ cut here ]------------
(cherry picked from commit daa199abc3d3d1740c9e3a2c3e9216ae5b447cad)
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 4.12 | 5.15.203 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 5.16 | 6.1.167 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.2 | 6.6.130 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.7 | 6.12.78 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.13 | 6.18.20 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.19 | 6.19.10 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 7.0-rc1 | 7.0-rc1.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 7.0-rc2 | 7.0-rc2.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 7.0-rc3 | 7.0-rc3.x |
| linux / linux_kernel | 7.0-rc4 | 7.0-rc4.x |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.