Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-72289 in the interactive tracker
CVE-2026-72289
KVM: arm64: vgic: Check the interrupt is still ours before migrating it
Published 2026-08-15 (2 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem arch/arm64. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-72289 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | fixed | 6.1.180-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.1.180-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixed | 6.12.100-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.100-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.5-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.5-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
vgic_prune_ap_list() drops both ap_list_lock and irq_lock while migrating an interrupt to another vCPU. After reacquiring the locks it only checks that the affinity is unchanged (target_vcpu == vgic_target_oracle(irq)) before moving the interrupt, which assumes that an interrupt whose affinity is preserved is still queued on this vCPU's ap_list. That assumption no longer holds if the interrupt is taken off the ap_list while the locks are dropped. vgic_flush_pending_lpis() removes the interrupt from the list and sets irq->vcpu to NULL, but leaves enabled/pending/target_vcpu untouched. As the interrupt is still enabled and pending, vgic_target_oracle() returns the same target_vcpu, so the affinity check passes and list_del() is run a second time on an entry that has already been removed. Also check that the interrupt is still assigned to this vCPU (irq->vcpu == vcpu) before moving it.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
arch/arm64/kvm/vgic/vgic.c
- What this is
- KERNEL VIRTUAL MACHINE FOR ARM64 (KVM/arm64)MAINTAINERS section matched on arch/arm64/kvm/ · linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org · Maintained
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Not established. This site could not find the build rule for the affected file in the kernel trees Debian ships, so it has no answer about whether Debian compiles this code. Read that as unknown, never as absent.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid?
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS
Signals
- Published
- 2026-08-15 (2 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 9.3 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- local (AV:L)source
- EPSS
- 0.18%, higher than 7.6% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- arch/arm64
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 4.7 | 5.10.261 | 3893e1fcf6f3 |
| 4.7 | 5.15.212 | cb3efe1a354f |
| 4.7 | 6.1.178 | da2d249a39a1 |
| 4.7 | 6.6.145 | 654be81c4c63 |
| 4.7 | 6.12.97 | e363c0bc0226 |
| 4.7 | 6.18.40 | 79fdd2aa774e |
| 4.7 | 7.1.5 | 0658b09cba7f |
| 4.7 | 7.2 | 0074b82cdfcb |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:LAttack vector, local
- The bug is reached only from KVM guest execution paths—GICv3 redistributor GICR_CTLR LPI-disable MMIO traps into vgic_flush_pending_lpis() and vCPU exit/sync paths into vgic_prune_ap_list()—not from any remote network, adjacent-radio, or physical-device interface on the host.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- A malicious multi-vCPU guest controls both racing sides by pinning threads, changing LPI affinity via ITS so an interrupt must migrate off one vCPU's ap_list, and concurrently disabling LPIS on that redistributor; the attacker creates the window rather than depending on uncontrollable host timing or memory layout.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- The highest-impact scenario is a malicious cloud VM tenant on arm64 KVM who needs no host privileges beyond code already running inside the assigned guest; exploitation uses guest-kernel GIC MMIO/ITS operations, not host root, CAP_SYS_ADMIN in the init namespace, or additional /dev/kvm access beyond having a VM.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- Exploitation is fully attacker-driven from within the guest VM through deliberate LPI setup, affinity changes, and timed GICR_CTLR writes; no victim user or administrator action on the host is required beyond normal VM operation.
- S:CScope, changed
- Double list_del()/list_add_tail() on host-kernel ap_list linkages corrupts KVM VGIC state from guest-controlled interrupt operations, crossing the guest-to-host virtualization security boundary with VM-escape-class impact rather than confining damage to the attacker's VM.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Corrupting detached ap_list pointers and inserting them into another vCPU's ap_list_head enables out-of-bounds kernel linked-list traversal and disclosure of adjacent kmalloc slab memory (struct vgic_irq and neighboring objects); per kernel guidance, this list corruption is leverageable for arbitrary host memory read primitives.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The vulnerable path performs list_del() on an already removed entry and may follow with list_add_tail() onto another vCPU's ap_list, letting a guest steer kernel list pointers and overwrite adjacent vgic_irq/host heap metadata for control-flow or data corruption on the hypervisor.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- Re-running list_del() on an entry already removed by vgic_flush_pending_lpis() dereferences poisoned list pointers and corrupts live ap_list_heads, causing immediate host kernel BUG/oops/panic or persistent interrupt-delivery failure during subsequent VGIC processing.