Linux kernel 7.1.1 and 7.0.13 release notes fix GPU latency and softirq deadlocks
The latest stable kernel drops are here, and this round actually tackles some real performance and stability headaches rather than just shuffling driver metadata. Readers will get a clear breakdown of what changed in the Linux kernel 7.1.1 and 7.0.13 release notes, why the AMDGPU retry loop matters for desktop responsiveness, and how a quiet network signaling fix prevents system freezes.
Linux kernel 7.1.1 and 7.0.13 release notes breakdown
The amdgpu driver used to spin its CPU for a full second when it hit a busy state during page fault recovery. That retry loop never actually made progress because the sequence counter moved forward, so the kernel just burned cycles before giving up. Dropping the loop lets the error propagate immediately instead of freezing the desktop while the system waits for a timeout that was never going to help. This matters a lot for anyone running compute workloads or using KFD userptr stacks, where that artificial stall used to cause visible stutter in rendering pipelines. The HID subsystem also gets a cleanup pass for multiple battery tracking. Previous versions left dangling list pointers when devices were rebound, which could trigger use-after-free warnings during hotplug events. Clearing that list properly stops the kernel from chasing ghost pointers when wireless peripherals reconnect.
Several ARM64 platforms get attention for a broadcast TLB invalidation bug that can leave memory writes unobserved across cores. The kernel now applies a repeat sequence to ensure those writes complete before the system moves forward. Systems running on Microsoft Azure Cobalt 100 chips or NVIDIA Olympus cores will see the workaround activate automatically. The driver core also stops accepting devices attached to unregistered buses. A recent cleanup allowed registration to succeed silently without actually binding the device, which meant hardware would just sit there doing nothing until the next reboot. Rejecting those setups early catches ordering mistakes in driver code and prevents devices from vanishing into sysfs limbo.
A quiet but nasty deadlock used to trigger when TCP urgent data arrived during process group signaling. The kernel held a read lock on the task list while a softirq tried to grab the same lock, and the writer fairness mechanism would freeze the system until a watchdog intervened. Replacing the read lock with an RCU read lock aligns the process group path with the single process path and removes the deadlock entirely. This also shuts down a potential remote denial of service vector that relied on carefully timed TCP packets. The fix sits in the fcntl signaling path and runs completely transparent to userspace.
Linux kernel 7.1.1 released
Linux kernel version 7.1.1 is now available:
Full source: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v7.x/linux-7.1.1.tar.xz
Patch: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v7.x/patch-7.1.1.xz
PGP Signature: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v7.x/linux-7.1.1.tar.sign
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/stable/ds/v7.1.1/v7.1
Linux kernel 7.0.13 released
Linux kernel version 7.0.13 is now available:
Full source: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v7.x/linux-7.0.13.tar.xz
Patch: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v7.x/patch-7.0.13.xz
PGP Signature: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v7.x/linux-7.0.13.tar.sign
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/stable/ds/v7.0.13/v7.0.12
Keep an eye on your distribution updates if you run AMD hardware or ARM64 servers. The patches apply cleanly to the stable trees, and rebuilding the kernel or pulling the package update will clear out the old timing bugs.
