Bug#1139741: grub 2.06 (bookworm) fails to boot with a page fault under strict UEFI NX (PcdDxeNxMemoryProtectionPolicy=0x7FD5)

Bing Liu byronliubing at gmail.com
Fri Jun 12 11:19:11 BST 2026


Package: grub-efi-amd64 Version: 2.06-13+deb12u1 Severity: important
[Impact] After a BIOS update, the newer UEFI (edk2) firmware enables strict
NX (W^X) by default: PcdDxeNxMemoryProtectionPolicy is now 0x7FD5
(previously the legacy 0x7FD1), enforcing NX on all EFI memory types.
bookworm's grub 2.06 then fails to boot with a page fault; grub 2.12
(trixie) boots successfully. [Root cause] GRUB allocates code memory typed
as GRUB_EFI_LOADER_CODE, non-executable under strict NX. The fault occurs
when GRUB executes/jumps into that memory (during GRUB execution or at the
final jump via grub_relocator). PE section alignment + NX_COMPAT patches
are NOT sufficient; only 2.12's EFI LoadImage()/StartImage() path (already
in trixie) resolves it. [Questions] 1. Would the team consider a
stable-update of the 2.12 boot path to bookworm, or is the recommendation
to move to trixie (2.12+)? 2. Are there known regressions in 2.12/2.14's
native EFI load path (e.g. initrd via LoadFile2 on LUKS2) that affect this
decision? 3. Any timeline we can align against?
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