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TI-2026-24118 Aliases CVE-2026-31561GHSA-pgvp-p3vq-7q7h

x86/cpu: Remove X86_CR4_FRED from the CR4 pinned bits mask

Priority LOW 24Published · Updated

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: x86/cpu: Remove X86_CR4_FRED from the CR4 pinned bits mask Commit in Fixes added the FRED CR4 bit to the CR4 pinned bits mask so that whenever something else modifies CR4, that bit remains set. Which in itself is a perfectly fine idea. However, there's an issue when during boot FRED is initialized: first on the BSP and later on the APs. Thus, there's a window in time when exceptions cannot be handled. This becomes particularly nasty when running as SEV-{ES,SNP} or TDX guests which, when they manage to trigger exceptions during that short window described above, triple fault due to FRED MSRs not being set up yet. See Link tag below for a much more detailed explanation of the situation. So, as a result, the commit in that Link URL tried to address this shortcoming by temporarily disabling CR4 pinning when an AP is not online yet. However, that is a problem in itself because in this case, an attack on the kernel needs to only modify the online bit - a single bit in RW memory - and then disable CR4 pinning and then disable SM*P, leading to more and worse things to happen to the system. So, instead, remove the FRED bit from the CR4 pinning mask, thus obviating the need to temporarily disable CR4 pinning. If someone manages to disable FRED when poking at CR4, then idt_invalidate() would make sure the system would crash'n'burn on the first exception triggered, which is a much better outcome security-wise.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00122 1st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11 +1Red Hat: 2 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.9 and later6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11, 7.0Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.9 and later Fixed in 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11, 7.0 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 9

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*6.9.1 to before 6.12.80; 6.13 to before 6.18.21; 6.19 to before 6.19.11VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.9:-:*:*:*:*:*:*6.9VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc2VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc3VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc4VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc5VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc6VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:*7.0 rc7VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.9.1 to before 6.12.80; 6.13 to before 6.18.21; 6.19 to before 6.19.11 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.9:-:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.9 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.0:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 rc7 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.80, 6.18.21, 6.19.11, 7.0

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Not affected: 3 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-31561
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-pgvp-p3vq-7q7h

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
See all 15278 →

Sources