Skip to main content

Linux Kernel CVE-2026-89932

| EUVDEUVD-2026-80532 HIGH
2026-09-16 Linux GHSA-8q77-gpg3-wgrc
8.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: Linux
Share

Severity by source

Vendor (Linux) PRIMARY
8.8 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI
7.0 HIGH

Requires a compromised L1 guest (PR:L, AV:L) and a nondeterministic VPID-reuse/TLB-residency window (AC:H); guest→host isolation break is S:C; stale-TLB impact is DoS-dominant (A:H) with only partial C/I.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (Linux).

CVSS VectorVendor: Linux

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

7
Metadata Corrected
Sep 16, 2026 - 16:40 vuln.today
tag: Denial Of Service added
Metadata Corrected
Sep 16, 2026 - 16:40 vuln.today
tag: KVM added
Analysis Generated
Sep 16, 2026 - 16:04 vuln.today
CVSS changed
Sep 16, 2026 - 15:22 NVD
8.8 (HIGH)
Patch available
Sep 16, 2026 - 11:03 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 16, 2026 - 10:32 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)
CVE Published
Sep 16, 2026 - 10:32 cve.org
HIGH 8.8

DescriptionCVE.org

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: nVMX: Always flush vpid02 on first use

Make sure vpid02 is always flushed on first use by setting last_vpid=0 when allocating vpid02. nested_vmx_transition_tlb_flush() will always detect a VPID change on first VM-Enter after VMXON, because VPID=0 in vmcs12 is not allowed if L1 enables VPID.

This avoids using stale TLB entries from a previous lifetime of the VPID, that might have been associated with a different vCPU (or a completely different VM).

Note that last_vpid is already being initialized as 0 when the vCPU is created, but it is not reset when vpid02 is freed on VMXOFF. Hence, the problem can only occur if L1 does VMXOFF -> VMXON, runs an L2, and KVM happens to reuse a VPID that has TLB entries on the physical CPU.

AnalysisAI

Stale TLB entries can be reused by an L2 guest in the Linux kernel's KVM nested virtualization (nVMX) implementation on x86 Intel VMX hosts, because vpid02 is not flushed on its first use after a VPID is recycled following an L1 guest's VMXOFF/VMXON cycle. Exploitation requires an attacker who already controls an L1 guest on a host running KVM with nested virtualization enabled (kvm_intel nested=1) where L1 uses VPID for its L2 guests, and success depends on KVM reusing a vpid02 value that still has TLB entries resident on the physical CPU, making the outcome timing- and reuse-dependent rather than deterministic. …

Unlock full vulnerability intelligence

  • Risk assessment & exploitation conditions
  • Attack chain visualization
  • Remediation with exact patch versions
  • Threat intelligence from 22 sources
  • Personal watchlist & email alerts

Free forever · No credit card required

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata

Access
technique details hidden
Delivery
technique details hidden
Exploit
technique details hidden
Execution
technique details hidden
Persist
technique details hidden
Impact
technique details hidden

Vulnerability AssessmentAI

Exploitation Requires the host to run KVM on x86 (Intel VMX) with nested virtualization enabled (kvm_intel nested=1) and an L1 guest that itself enables VPID for its L2 guests. … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment.
Risk Assessment Signals are mixed and point to a LOWER real-world priority than the vendor's CVSS 8.8 suggests. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in.
Exploit Scenario Full exploit scenario with step-by-step reproduction available after sign-in.
Remediation Vendor-released patches are available: upgrade to Linux 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 6.18.51, or 7.2.5 (or 7.3-rc1 or later), or to your distribution's kernel build that carries the corresponding stable backports documented at https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/26de0d2d9a8d14c03e5ebb25fd68b5bfcd5ac366, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8bc609999ec223089fec8d74c7de27d689606b36, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62604376c313178811375f40a282fc2a46cd2311, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b98d662ab24f34710a56e03bc9169e4a5508606, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22dfcc22c95e91295119a1c3b469816ce44c4804, https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/121991d150735f3c0f7401678ce4d35c5b4ac898, and https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f0772389413dce9657c7d6950abf3edbbd511356. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report.

Recommended ActionAI

Within 24 hours, inventory Linux hosts running KVM with kvm_intel nested=1 and determine whether untrusted L1 guests can create L2 guests; if nested virtualization is not required, disable it (kvm_intel nested=0) or restrict it to trusted workloads, and begin applying the vendor-released Linux kernel KVM patch per your distribution's security advisory. …

Sign in for detailed remediation steps and compensating controls.

Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.

More in KVM

View all
CVE-2026-27211 CRITICAL
10.0 Feb 21

Arbitrary host file exfiltration from Cloud Hypervisor VMM versions 34.0-50.0. CVSS 10.0. Patch available.

CVE-2026-89930 CRITICAL
9.3 Sep 16

Incorrect handling of queued local TLB flushes in the Linux kernel's KVM nested-VMX (nVMX) implementation can leave stal

CVE-2026-89918 CRITICAL
9.3 Sep 16

Address-rollover bug in the Linux kernel's KVM/arm64 TLB-by-VA invalidation path causes the hypervisor to silently skip

CVE-2026-89916 CRITICAL
9.3 Sep 16

Race conditions in the arm64 KVM path that invalidates VNCR translations can leave a stale stage-1 TLB entry installed f

CVE-2026-89915 CRITICAL
9.3 Sep 16

Missed TLB invalidations in the arm64 KVM nested-virtualization path of the Linux kernel can leave stale translations fo

CVE-2026-89914 CRITICAL
9.3 Sep 16

Range-based TLB invalidation in the arm64 KVM hypervisor of the Linux kernel is computed against the wrong address range

CVE-2026-89960 HIGH
8.8 Sep 16

A use-after-free (CWE-416) in the Linux kernel's s390/vfio-ap AP crypto passthrough driver allows a local attacker with

CVE-2026-89959 HIGH
8.8 Sep 16

The s390 vfio-ap mediated device (mdev) driver in the Linux kernel fails to actually revoke crypto control-domain access

CVE-2026-89957 HIGH
8.8 Sep 16

Stale hardware access to unplugged crypto resources in Linux KVM guests on IBM Z (s390) stems from a logic error in the

CVE-2026-89929 HIGH
8.8 Sep 16

Linux kernel's KVM nested-VMX (nVMX) emulation can leave stale L2 guest TLB entries on a physical CPU, because KVM execu

CVE-2026-89928 HIGH
8.8 Sep 16

Slab use-after-free in the Linux kernel's KVM x86 MMU lockless rmap aging path affects hosts running Linux 6.15 through

CVE-2026-89913 HIGH
8.8 Sep 16

A use-after-free race in the arm64 KVM vGICv3 code path of the Linux kernel (vgic_v3_save_pending_tables) allows a local

Share

CVE-2026-89932 vulnerability details – vuln.today

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy