CVE-2026-74635

fbdev: bitblit: bound-check glyph index in bit_cursor()

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: August 22, 2026 at 03:32 PM UTC
Updated: October 16, 2026 at 08:17 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: fbdev: bitblit: bound-check glyph index in bit_cursor() bit_cursor() fetches the glyph under the cursor with c = scr_readw(vc_pos); src = vc_font.data + ((c & charmask) * w * height); where charmask is 0x1ff when vc_hi_font_mask is set. The screen buffer value comes directly from scr_readw() and may be larger than the current font's glyph count. Syzkaller triggers this via vcs_write(). The Call Trace shows vcs_write() in vc_screen.c writing an arbitrary 16-bit value with writev() to /dev/vcsa, which vcs_write_buf() in vc_screen.c stores via vcs_scr_writew() without checking charcount. The stored value is later read in bit_cursor() in bitblit.c. When the font is changed from a font with 512 glyphs to a font with 256 glyphs, the screen buffer can retain characters with the high bit set from the previous mode, which could also produce the same out-of-bounds access. BUG: KASAN: global-out-of-bounds in soft_cursor+0x378/0x6bc drivers/video/fbdev/core/softcursor.c:70 Read of size 16 at addr ffff800086c57970 Call Trace: soft_cursor+0x378/0x6bc drivers/video/fbdev/core/softcursor.c:70 bit_cursor+0xa90/0x1108 drivers/video/fbdev/core/bitblit.c:365 fbcon_cursor+0x344/0x498 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:1427 hide_cursor+0xdc/0x2d0 drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:883 update_region+0x100/0x18c drivers/tty/vt/vt.c:669 vcs_write+0x8ec/0xaf0 drivers/tty/vt/vc_screen.c:685 bit_putcs_aligned() and bit_putcs_unaligned() already clamp the glyph index to vc_font.charcount. Apply the same clamp in bit_cursor() after extracting the attribute and masking, before indexing fontdata. The fix completes the bounds checking started in commit 18c4ef4e765a ("fbdev: bitblit: bound-check glyph index in bit_putcs*"), which missed the cursor path. This change should be safe because the clamp reuses the existing contract from fbcon: charcount is maintained under console_lock in con_font_set() and fbcon_font_set(), and hi_font_mask is cleared when switching from 512 to 256 glyphs. When stale screen data with high bits remains after a font switch, or when vcs_write() stores an arbitrary value, clamping the index to 0 prevents the out-of-bounds read without changing cursor semantics — the same fallback bit_putcs uses.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

0998a6cb232674408a03e8561dc15aa266b2f53b18c4ef4e765a798b47980555ed665d78b71aeadf5.10.2475.15.1975.4.3026.1.1596.12.586.17.86.186.6.117901f44227072be60812fe8083e83e1533c04eed1998a6cb232674408a3e8561dc15aa266b2f53b9ba1a7802ca9a2590cef95b253e6526f4364477fa10cede006f9614b465cf25609a8753efbfd45ccc12003bf91fdff381c55ef54fef3e961a5af2545db5c9a162d2f42bcc842b76b3d935dcc050a0eecefaf89a75a29b2d179bf4fe63ca62852e93ad620
Vendor states this is fixed in 250159ace2dc53c1bdad267aa8da51b638748700 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 46336f476484f36145e5117e72d7b590f47433ee (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 94134d70abf9273b70499d97d0adc9185ef21091 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 9ea879862e66e354e616028c31b39aa3eb6d35d8 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in bc9db0d879c655d5dfd8add32fd60f13e65d132c (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in bf750cfeacf4e47ac72dadc7f05839696efb8576 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in c1e7351767dd30fc574395c82121e4c67b882da3 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in e033cbf3975a8465f879ebd5989dc35b04423a4d (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.265 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.216 (unaffected)
Affected range stops below 5.5, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.1.183 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.12.104 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.18.45 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 6.6.152 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.1.9 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 7.2 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.8HIGHLinux
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusRECEIVED

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