published September 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
x86/amd_node: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference
amd_smn_read/write() are exported functions around __amd_smn_rw(), so
they are always available even if amd_smn_init() fails. In that case,
'amd_roots' is NULL and __amd_smn_rw() will access uninitialized memory.
Then, commit:
83518453074d ("x86/amd_node: Add SMN offsets to exclusive region access")
added the 'smn_exclusive' flag, which indicated the calls to
pci_request_config_region_exclusive() succeeded, to prevent
concurrent userspace access.
Commit:
0a4b61d9c2e4 ("x86/amd_node: Fix AMD root device caching")
re-ordered initialization so pci_request_config_region_exclusive() is
called earlier and a failure exits amd_smn_init() before allocating
'amd_roots'. The setting of 'smn_exclusive' moved to the end of
amd_smn_init(), after 'amd_roots' is allocated. It became redundant
and can be removed.
Replace 'smn_exclusive' with directly checking 'amd_roots', to fix a
potential NULL pointer dereference and to simplify the logic.
[ bp: Reorg commit message, touchup comment. ]
[ mingo: Rebase & further touchups. ]