KVM: arm64: Get rid of userspace_irqchip_in_use
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: Get rid of userspace_irqchip_in_use Improper use of userspace_irqchip_in_use led to syzbot hitting the following WARN_ON() in kvm_timer_update_irq(): WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3281 at arch/arm64/kvm/arch_timer.c:459 kvm_timer_update_irq+0x21c/0x394 Call trace: kvm_timer_update_irq+0x21c/0x394 arch/arm64/kvm/arch_timer.c:459 kvm_timer_vcpu_reset+0x158/0x684 arch/arm64/kvm/arch_timer.c:968 kvm_reset_vcpu+0x3b4/0x560 arch/arm64/kvm/reset.c:264 kvm_vcpu_set_target arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1553 [inline] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_vcpu_init arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1573 [inline] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl+0x112c/0x1b3c arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1695 kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4ec/0xf74 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:4658 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline] __arm64_sys_ioctl+0x108/0x184 fs/ioctl.c:893 __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline] invoke_syscall+0x78/0x1b8 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49 el0_svc_common+0xe8/0x1b0 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132 do_el0_svc+0x40/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151 el0_svc+0x54/0x14c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:712 el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xfc arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:730 el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:598 The following sequence led to the scenario: - Userspace creates a VM and a vCPU. - The vCPU is initialized with KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3 during KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT. - Without any other setup, such as vGIC or vPMU, userspace issues KVM_RUN on the vCPU. Since the vPMU is requested, but not setup, kvm_arm_pmu_v3_enable() fails in kvm_arch_vcpu_run_pid_change(). As a result, KVM_RUN returns after enabling the timer, but before incrementing 'userspace_irqchip_in_use': kvm_arch_vcpu_run_pid_change() ret = kvm_arm_pmu_v3_enable() if (!vcpu->arch.pmu.created) return -EINVAL; if (ret) return ret; [...] if (!irqchip_in_kernel(kvm)) static_branch_inc(&userspace_irqchip_in_use); - Userspace ignores the error and issues KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT again. Since the timer is already enabled, control moves through the following flow, ultimately hitting the WARN_ON(): kvm_timer_vcpu_reset() if (timer->enabled) kvm_timer_update_irq() if (!userspace_irqchip()) ret = kvm_vgic_inject_irq() ret = vgic_lazy_init() if (unlikely(!vgic_initialized(kvm))) if (kvm->arch.vgic.vgic_model != KVM_DEV_TYPE_ARM_VGIC_V2) return -EBUSY; WARN_ON(ret); Theoretically, since userspace_irqchip_in_use's functionality can be simply replaced by '!irqchip_in_kernel()', get rid of the static key to avoid the mismanagement, which also helps with the syzbot issue.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.64, 6.11.11, 6.12.2, 6.13
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-53195
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-6mv6-cjvx-gfvm
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@982a1461ab9cf3146302fe5a139ecb1f9b2d33fc · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 4
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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Sources
- CVE-2024-53195 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-53195 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-6mv6-cjvx-gfvm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2024-53195 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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