Android Kernel CVE-2026-59046

Exploitation requires local access to the device and the ability to reach the pKVM (protected KVM) guest hypercall interface - specifically the __pkvm_guest_relinquish_to_host operation in mem_protect.c - meaning the device must be running Android's protected-KVM hypervisor with guest VMs, a feature limited to pKVM-capable ARM64 Android builds rather than every Android device. Per the CVSS vector (PR:N/UI:N) no additional execution privileges and no user interaction are needed once that path is reachable. Limiting factors: the attacker must already have local code execution able to issue the vulnerable hypercall, impact is confined to availability (denial of service, no code execution or data exposure), and devices without pKVM protected guests are not exposed. The exact malformed input that triggers the out-of-bounds write is not described in the available sources.

This is a moderate-severity, low-urgency issue rather than a top-priority emergency. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 6.2) describes a locally-triggered flaw with availability-only impact (C:N/I:N) - an out-of-bounds write in Android's pKVM hypervisor path that leads to denial of service, not code execution or data disclosure. All real-world exploitation signals point the same direction and reinforce low urgency: EPSS is 0.14% (3rd percentile), there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit was identified (the only references are the two Android kernel patch commits and the security bulletin, not exploit code). The vuln.today decision label is 'this_month', consistent with a bug to patch on the normal maintenance cycle rather than immediately. One point to verify: the description frames the flaw as a guest VM relinquishing memory to the host ('__pkvm_guest_relinquish_to_host'), which is a guest-to-host boundary, yet Android assigned S:U (scope unchanged); an OOB write in the hypervisor reachable from a guest could arguably warrant a scope change - confirm with the vendor whether host impact crosses a trust boundary. No data is strongly conflicting; the signals are internally consistent toward 'real but low real-world risk'.

A local attacker with the ability to run code inside a protected guest VM (or otherwise reach the pKVM guest hypercall interface) invokes the __pkvm_guest_relinquish_to_host path with improperly validated input, triggering an out-of-bounds write in the hypervisor that crashes the affected component and denies service. No user interaction and no additional execution privileges are required per the CVSS vector and description. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis; only vendor patch commits are published.