s390/vfio-ap: Fix missing lock required to access list of ap_matrix_mdev objects
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
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- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/vfio-ap: Fix missing lock required to access list of ap_matrix_mdev objects In order to traverse or add/remove ap_matrix_mdev objects in the matrix_dev->mdev_list, the matrix_dev->guests_lock mutex must be held. There are two functions that access the list without holding the mutex: vfio_ap_mdev_probe function ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The vfio_ap_mdev_probe function uses the matrix_dev->mdevs_lock mutex to guard the add of a newly created ap_matrix_mdev object to the matrix_dev->mdev_list. This mutex does not protect list access; its purpose is to guard against concurrent access to fields contained in an ap_matrix_mdev object. This could lead to kernel memory corruption or use-after-free if another mdev is created or removed concurrently. The adding of an ap_matrix_mdev object to matrix_dev->mdev_list is now guarded by the matrix_dev->guests_lock which is the correct way to protect against concurrent mdev_list access. Also removed the following two lines of code because the matrix_mdev is allocated via vfio_alloc_device macro which uses kzalloc, so req_trigger and cfg_chg_trigger are already zero-initialised when the struct is allocated before the call to vfio_register_emulated_iommu_dev. This prevents a window whereby these triggers are set to NULL after the device is exposed to userspace. matrix_mdev->req_trigger = NULL; matrix_mdev->cfg_chg_trigger = NULL; vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The status_show function that supports display of the status attribute of the devices in /sys/bus/ap/devices calls the vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function which iterates the matrix_dev->mdev_list to find the object representing the queue device whose status is to be displayed. In order to traverse this list, the matrix_dev->guests_lock mutex must be held. To fix this, the guests_lock mutex is taken prior to taking the matrix_dev->mdevs_lock mutex in the status_show function. It is taken there rather than the vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function - where it is needed - because it must be taken prior to the mdevs_lock mutex in order to adhere to the proper locking order and prevent a lockdep splat; also because the mdevs_lock is needed there to access fields within the matrix_mdev object in that function. See the vfio-ap-locking.rst in the linux kernel tree.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.1.191, 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.51, 7.2.5, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-89956
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vvfx-87j6-h3vv
- 2026-10-03 Fix available: Linux/Linux@530ee1cc71562b6799b9ece187b6c1b757a2c6fa, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-03 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 Fix available: Linux/Linux@22dc712c170efc1a549e3f872467c880be995ac7, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-21 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-10-24 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-24 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-29 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/Linux@3ea443510739468238324234eaab0d37922283f5, Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ea443510739468238324234eaab0d37922283f5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22dc712c170efc1a549e3f872467c880be995ac7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/530ee1cc71562b6799b9ece187b6c1b757a2c6fa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/647916988272fe5ecb4bb30cd02b51af9960618a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0fd74477d05743d4cd9b25a3b667daa278d53b93
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fa61c29850d05e40ca9ed41bfdf57673023f581
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Sources
- CVE-2026-89956 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-89956 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-vvfx-87j6-h3vv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-89956 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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