CVE-2017-9605: Linux Kernel

Medium severity, CVSS 5.5. EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

The vmw_gb_surface_define_ioctl function (accessible via DRM_IOCTL_VMW_GB_SURFACE_CREATE) in drivers/gpu/drm/vmwgfx/vmwgfx_surface.c in the Linux kernel through 4.11.4 defines a backup_handle variable but does not give it an initial value. If one attempts to create a GB surface, with a previously allocated DMA buffer to be used as a backup buffer, the backup_handle variable does not get written to and is then later returned to user space, allowing local users to obtain sensitive information from uninitialized kernel memory via a crafted ioctl call.

Affected products

• Linux Linux Kernel: up to and including 4.11.4

Published 2017-06-13. Last modified 2026-06-17.