CVE-2026-64561

HIGH CVSS 3.1: 8.8 EPSS 0.12%
Updated Aug 09, 2026
Linux
Parameter Value
CVSS 8.8 (HIGH)
Affected Versions 5.9 — 7.2-rc5
Fixed In 6.6.148
Vendor Linux
Public PoC No

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Check for invalid/obsolete root *after* making MMU pages available Check for a "stale" page fault, i.e. for an invalid and/or obsolete root, after making MMU pages available for the shadow MMU. If reclaiming shadow pages zaps an in-use root, i.e. marks it invalid, then KVM will attempt to map memory into an invalid root. On its own, populating an invalid root is "fine", but because child shadow pages inherit their parent's role, any children created during the map/fetch will be created as invalid pages, thus violating KVM's invariant that invalid pages are never on the list of active MMU pages.

Note, the underlying flaw has existed since KVM first started tracking invalid roots in 2008 (commit 2e53d63acba7, "KVM: MMU: ignore zapped root pagetables"), but the true badness only came along in 2020 (Linux 5.9) with the invariant that invalid shadow pages can't be on the list of active pages. Note #2, inheriting role.invalid when creating child shadow pages is also far from ideal; that flaw will be addressed separately.

Attack Parameters

Attack Vector
Local
Requires local access
Attack Complexity
Low
Easy to exploit
Privileges Required
Low
Basic privileges needed
User Interaction
None
No user interaction needed

Impact Assessment

Confidentiality
High
Complete data leak
Integrity
High
Complete data modification
Availability
High
Complete denial of service

CVSS Vector v3.1

Vulnerable Products 5

Configuration From (including) Up to (excluding)
Linux Linux_Kernel
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.9 6.6.148
Linux Linux_Kernel
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.9 6.12.101
Linux Linux_Kernel
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.9 6.18.42
Linux Linux_Kernel
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.9 7.1.6
Linux Linux_Kernel
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
5.9 7.2-rc5