CVE-2026-23008

A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's VMware graphics (vmwgfx) driver. On VMware hardware version 10, which lacks GB Surfaces support, attempting to use 3D acceleration with KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) causes the driver to dereference a NULL backing buffer pointer for surface-backed framebuffers. This results in a kernel crash and black screen.

This vulnerability specifically affects VMware virtual machines running hardware version 10 with 3D acceleration enabled. The crash occurs when the DRM subsystem attempts to access framebuffer surfaces that don't have backing storage on this hardware version. Newer VMware hardware versions are not affected as they support GB Surfaces.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

To mitigate this issue, disable 3D acceleration in VMware virtual machine settings when using hardware version 10, or upgrade to a newer VMware hardware version that supports GB Surfaces.