s390/vfio-ap: fix stale pqap_hook pointer on error in vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 4 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/vfio-ap: fix stale pqap_hook pointer on error in vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm() In vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm(), kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook is set to &matrix_mdev->pqap_hook before the update locks are acquired and the mdev list is checked for a conflicting assignment. If another mdev is already attached to the same KVM instance, the function returns -EPERM without restoring the hook pointer, leaving kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook pointing at the failing matrix_mdev instead of the mdev that legitimately owns the KVM. Since matrix_mdev->kvm is never set on this error path, vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() will not clean up the hook when matrix_mdev is later closed. If matrix_mdev is subsequently freed, any PQAP instruction executed by the guest will dereference the stale pointer through pqap_hook_rwsem, resulting in a use-after-free. Since kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook is only set in the vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm() function and is cleared in the vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() function, a check for 'kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook != NULL' is all that is needed to determine whether it belongs to another mdev. This will alleviate the need to iterate the matrix_dev->mdev_list list to see if the kvm object is assigned to another mdev.This was introduced in v3 to alleviate the need to take the mdevs_lock while iterating the list; however, this did not prevent a potential race condition. The pqap_hook_rwsem(write) is now performed inside get_update_locks_for_kvm(), which is updated to acquire pqap_hook_rwsem(write) between kvm->lock and mdevs_lock. This ordering is consistent with the PQAP intercept path, which acquires pqap_hook_rwsem in read mode while srcu is held under vcpu->mutex, establishing the dependency: kvm->lock -> vcpu->mutex -> srcu -> pqap_hook_rwsem(read). The pqap_hook_rwsem is now released inside the release_update_locks_for_kvm(), which is updated to release pqap_hook_rwsem(write) between mdevs_lock and kvm->lock. Additionally, kvm_put_kvm() in vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() is moved after release_update_locks_for_kvm(). Previously it was called while kvm->lock was held; if it were ever the last reference, kvm_destroy_vm() would run under kvm->lock, which would deadlock.
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, 6.6.157, 6.12.110, 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-2026-89960
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-gfv9-x355-hv69
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Fix available: Linux/[email protected], Linux/Linux@d6b7b166d5310fa3e4d5802c4177a0264d9140bd · CNA
- 2026-10-30 1 new reference · CNA
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
Other 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6b7b166d5310fa3e4d5802c4177a0264d9140bd
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eb6cc898501a004c0fa8aab951351d9c959b91cc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6a180adafc2a8a5fbe815985c71b2201e93ab5e1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fc069d00a0dbef40042fd681554d48dcd5a1d524
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/13bfc94eef389bd664ffc67b00184919902c938a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4400270ec0348d05dc0439d8f0130853ce7f9e20
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Sources
- CVE-2026-89960 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-89960 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-gfv9-x355-hv69 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-89960 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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