Look up another CVE · open CVE-2026-89917 in the interactive tracker
CVE-2026-89917
KVM: arm64: Handle VNCR TLB invalidation race with vcpu_put() VNCR unmapping
Published 2026-09-16 (33 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem arch/arm64. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89917 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 | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
While VNCR TLB invalidation always occurs under the MMU lock, vcpu_put() doesn't, while it unmaps the VNCR page. The problem is that the invalidation evaluates vncr_tlb::cpu to decide whether an unmapping needs to take place (cpu != -1) before performing it. On the other hand, this_cpu_reset_vncr_fixmap() unconditionally unmaps if L1_VNCR_MAPPED is set. These two obviously can race, with a TOCTOU pattern on the TLBI path, and a BUG_ON() on the vcpu_put() path. And the two can end-up calling vncr_fixmap(-1), with extra lethal effects. Move the reset of vncr_tlb::cpu to -1 to a common function, and make this update atomic so that only a single thread can reset the field and perform the corresponding unmap. The vcpu_put() still need to unconditionally unmap the current VNCR to close another ugly race. Finally, the assignment of vncr_tlb::cpu is moved to be kept in sync with the actual mapping, similar to L1_VNCR_MAPPED being set.
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/nested.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
- Kernel module
- kvm
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_KVM /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w kvmPrints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this, but not on every flavour. At least one release below builds the code on some of its kernel flavours and not on others, so the answer depends on the architecture and flavour installed. The build rule could not be established for 1 release, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm?
- trixieBnot built on armel/rpi, armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae, armhf/rt/armmp
- forky, sidBnot built on armhf/armmp, armhf/armmp-lpae
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- B
- built in on some, a module on others, absent on the rest
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.
- Build switch
- CONFIG_KVM
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 kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-09-16 (33 days ago)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- 0.21%, higher than 10.0% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 6.16 | 6.18.52 | 5cbd8761d001 |
| 6.16 | 7.2.5 | 9065c1261f8a |
| 6.16 | 7.3 | 38640bc32be3 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-89917, which is why it is shown as unrated rather than given an invented score. 6,405 of the 20,413 CVEs here carry reasoning; this is not one of them.