KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-787 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use As per the GHCB spec, when using GHCB v2+ require the software scratch area to reside in the GHCB's shared buffer. Note, things like Page State Change (PSC) requests _rely_ on this behavior, as the guest can't provide a length when making the request, i.e. the size of the guest payload is bounded by the size of the shared buffer. Failure to force usage of the GHCB, and a slew of other flaws, lets a malicious SNP guest corrupt host kernel heap memory, and leak host heap layout information. setup_vmgexit_scratch() allocates a buffer via kvzalloc(exit_info_2), where exit_info_2 is guest-controlled. With exit_info_2=24, this yields a 24-byte allocation in kmalloc-cg-32 (32-byte slab objects). The buffer holds an 8-byte psc_hdr followed by 8-byte psc_entry structs, so only entries[0] and entries[1] are in-bounds. snp_begin_psc() validates end_entry against VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT (253) but NOT against the actual buffer size: idx_end = hdr->end_entry; if (idx_end >= VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT) { // checks 253, not buffer snp_complete_psc(svm, ...); return 1; } for (idx = idx_start; idx <= idx_end; idx++) { entry_start = entries[idx]; // OOB when idx >= 2 The guest sets end_entry=10+, causing the host to iterate entries[2+] which are OOB into adjacent slab objects. For each OOB entry: - The host reads 8 bytes (OOB READ / info leak oracle) - If the data passes PSC validation, __snp_complete_one_psc() writes cur_page = 1 or 512 into the entry (OOB WRITE, sev.c:3806) - If validation fails, the error response reveals whether adjacent memory is zero vs non-zero (information disclosure to guest) The guest controls allocation size (exit_info_2), entry range (cur_entry/end_entry), and can fire unlimited VMGEXITs to repeatedly hit different slab positions. By exploiting the variety of bugs, a malicious SEV-SNP guest can: - OOB read adjacent kmalloc-cg-32 objects (heap layout disclosure) - OOB write cur_page bits into adjacent objects (heap corruption) - Trigger use-after-free conditions across VMGEXITs E.g. with KASAN enabled, a single insmod of the PoC guest module produces 73 KASAN reports: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x126/0x890 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888219ffb5e0 by task qemu-system-x86/2199 BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x468/0x890 Write of size 8 at addr ffff888351566648 by task qemu-system-x86/2199 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888XXXXXXXXX which belongs to the cache kmalloc-cg-32 of size 32 The buggy address is located N bytes to the right of allocated 32-byte region [ffff888XXXXXXXXX, ffff888XXXXXXXXX) Breakdown: 62 slab-out-of-bounds (reads + writes past allocation) 7 slab-use-after-free 4 use-after-free All credit to Stan for the wonderful description and reproducer! [sean: write changelog]
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.10 and later | 6.12.93, 6.18.35, 7.0.12, 7.1 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.10 and later Fixed in 6.12.93, 6.18.35, 7.0.12, 7.1 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 6
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 6.10 to before 6.12.93; 6.13 to before 6.18.35; 6.19 to before 7.0.12 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.1 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.1 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.1 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.1 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.1 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 6.10 to before 6.12.93; 6.13 to before 6.18.35; 6.19 to before 7.0.12 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.1 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.1 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.1 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.1 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.1 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.12.93, 6.18.35, 7.0.12, 7.1
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2026:77689 Released 2026-10-08 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-64k-debug-devel-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-devel-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) kernel-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-64k-core-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8 +28
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, libperf-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-64k-core-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) kernel-rt-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-core-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8, kernel-rt-debug-5.14.0-687.56.1.el9_8 +9
- RHSA-2026:77690 Released 2026-10-08 · Red Hat rating Importantkernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- 10Base-SMTV kernel-modules-internal-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) kernel-64k-debug-devel-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-debug-devel-matched-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-devel-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2 +12
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) kernel-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-64k-core-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2 +29
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) kernel-tools-libs-devel-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, libperf-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Hidden (v. 10) kernel-modules-internal-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-64k-core-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2 +21
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) kernel-rt-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-core-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2, kernel-rt-debug-6.12.0-211.64.1.el10_2 +9
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| 10Base-SMTV | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77689 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77689 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77689 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Hidden (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77689 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 10) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77690 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2026:77689 |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-53360
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-4pq2-jh73-g3hw
- 2026-10-09 Fix available: RHSA-2026:77689 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-09 Fix available: RHSA-2026:77690 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-09 Fix available: 10Base-SMTV, Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10), Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) +9 · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-16 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-10-19 Weakness changed · CISA ADP
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-53360 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-53360 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-4pq2-jh73-g3hw · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-53360 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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