High severity · published Oct 23, 2026
CVE-2026-98927
KVM: arm64: nv: Fix life cycle of the nested_mmus array
New
7.0
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: arm64: nv: Fix life cycle of the nested_mmus array
The nested_mmus array holds the shadow page tables that are used when
a guest is running a nested context. These structures are allocated on
VCPU_INIT for whole guest, which implies that they may have to be
relocated as the array grows.
Should a VCPU_INIT occur whilst a vcpu is actively running an L2 and
that the allocation requires relocation, that vcpu will still be
running with a pointer to the previous structure, which will have been
freed.
Fix this by turning the array of structures to an array of pointers,
which is now allocated at VM creation, sized to the absolute maximum
that KVM can handle.
In turn, each VCPU_INIT contributes S2_MMU_PER_VCPU to the pool. No
reallocation is ever performed, and the life cycle of each object is
much clearer:
- the nested_mmus array is allocated in kvm_init_nested(), and freed
in kvm_arch_destroy_vm()
- s2_mmu structures are allocated in kvm_vcpu_init_nested(), and freed
on kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all()
Finally, the freeing of vcpu->arch.vncr_array is made consistent
rather than being done on some failure paths, but not others.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 4% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
4f128f8e1aaac189f83d0f828bcdb2986d8d2e51 before ea242bdc29e8a8ff0e2447a64b3841114779f3af; 4f128f8e1aaac189f83d0f828bcdb2986d8d2e51 before 81e3f065a6485626f816d791dfd5e00ddd12eff5; 4f128f8e1aaac189f83d0f828bcdb2986d8d2e51 before 512c93f4461b9a3735987f48423d438a9cd49e6a; 4f128f8e1aaac189f83d0f828bcdb2986d8d2e51 before 33346f8960c7bb6a3b4e273b5cfe25c5a8be349f; 6.11 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98927
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98927
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/33346f8960c7bb6a3b4e273b5cfe25c5a8be349f
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/512c93f4461b9a3735987f48423d438a9cd49e6a
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81e3f065a6485626f816d791dfd5e00ddd12eff5
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ea242bdc29e8a8ff0e2447a64b3841114779f3af
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