Read the docs
TI-2026-75595 Aliases CVE-2026-98467GHSA-c768-p8f4-45mg

Null pointer dereference in Linux KVM arm64 nested stage 2 teardown

Priority LOW 22Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
—
Privileges required
—
User interaction
—
Attack complexity
—
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
—
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix

No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

The Linux kernel KVM arm64 nested virtualization code contains a null pointer dereference in nested stage 2 write-protect and unmap handling, where a concurrent teardown of a nested guest's stage 2 page tables can set the page table pointer to NULL. Affected versions are from 6.16 before the fixed releases. The flaw is a race between the MMU notifier invalidation of VNCR_EL2 and the shadow stage 2 teardown, and it causes a NULL pointer dereference. The sources do not describe the attacker or the impact beyond this crash.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

Description from the CNA

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: nv: Fix null ptr deref on nested wp/unmap, teardown race Commit 7270cc9157f4 ("KVM: arm64: nv: Handle VNCR_EL2 invalidation from MMU notifiers") introduced VNCR_EL2 invalidation in both kvm_nested_s2_unmap() and kvm_nested_s2_wp(). However at the point of this being performed concurrent stage 2 teardown of a nested guest can cause kvm->arch.mmu.pgt to be set to NULL. This happens in kvm_flush_shadow_all() -> kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all() -> kvm_free_stage2_pgd() and is performed under the kvm->mmu_lock. Commit ec14c272408a ("KVM: arm64: nv: Unmap/flush shadow stage 2 page tables") introduced the teardown of the entire nested MMU range, which then invokes stage2_apply_range() with resched=true: mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start() -> ... -> kvm_mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start() -> kvm_mmu_unmap_gfn_range() -> kvm_unmap_gfn_range() -> kvm_nested_s2_unmap() -> kvm_stage2_unmap_range() -> __unmap_stage2_range() -> stage2_apply_range() This means that stage2_apply_range() can drop the kvm->mmu_lock and thus concurrent progress can be made in lockstep with kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all(). If kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all() advances ahead of stage2_apply_range() and completes its operation it guarantees a NULL pointer deref. Since kvm_free_stage2_pgd() is performed under the kvm->mmu_lock this will either be observed NULL or not and serialised against kvm_free_stage2_pgd(). Resolve the issue by abstracting the invalidation to a new function, kvm_invalidate_vncr_ipa_all(), and check that the pgt is non-NULL before dereferencing it.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00166 5th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3Red Hat: 1 without a fix

SSVC decision points

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

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux6.16 and later6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 6.16 and later Fixed in 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·Linux

Remediation

Upgrade to Linux kernel 6.18.55, 7.2.9, or 7.3, which contain the fix. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 is affected and has no fix available yet.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 6.18.55, 7.2.9, 7.3

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
Not affected: 6 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-18 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-98467
  2. 2026-10-18 Alias added: GHSA-c768-p8f4-45mg
  3. 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
  4. 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  5. 2026-10-20 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  6. 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

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-2021-02452 Incorrect authorization in Ubuntu linux kernel 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
See all 21741 →

Sources