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CVE-2026-98473
s390/vfio-ap: fix KVM GISC and page leak when queue removed from host config
Published 2026-10-18 (today) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem drivers/s390. Debian urgency: unimportant.
Debian does not build this code. The per-release build detail is under "Where it lives" below.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-98473 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 | fixed | 6.12.113-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 6.12.113-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.9-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.9-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
Three related problems exist in the handling of KVM interrupt and page resources when a queue is removed from the host's AP configuration while assigned to a mediated device (mdev). Problem 1: ~~~~~~~~~ AP_RESPONSE_Q_NOT_AVAIL not handled in vfio_ap_mdev_reset_queue() When the AP bus removes a queue device whose adapter or domain has been removed from the host's AP configuration, vfio_ap_mdev_remove_queue() is called. If the queue is still in the host's AP configuration at that point, it calls vfio_ap_mdev_reset_queue(), which issues a PQAP(ZAPQ). Since the adapter is already gone from the host configuration, ap_zapq() returns AP_RESPONSE_Q_NOT_AVAIL (0x01). This response code is not handled in vfio_ap_mdev_reset_queue()'s switch statement and falls through to the default case, which issues a WARN but does not call vfio_ap_free_aqic_resources(). As a result, if IRQ handling was enabled for the queue by the guest, the KVM GISC registration and the pinned guest page holding the notification indicator byte (NIB) are both leaked. This is fixed by adding AP_RESPONSE_Q_NOT_AVAIL to the same case as AP_RESPONSE_DECONFIGURED and AP_RESPONSE_CHECKSTOPPED in vfio_ap_mdev_reset_queue(). Like those response codes, Q_NOT_AVAIL indicates the queue is not operational and no further reset attempts are possible; the correct action is to free the IRQ resources immediately. Problem 2: ~~~~~~~~~ AP_RESPONSE_Q_NOT_AVAIL not handled in apq_status_check() In vfio_ap_mdev_reset_queue(), there are four cases that indicate a queue reset has not yet completed, in which case apq_reset_check() is queued to a work queue to verify completion of the reset operation. This function uses the PQAP(TAPQ) function to get the queue's status and calls apq_status_check() to verify whether the reset has completed, failed or needs to be executed again. As described in Problem #1 above, apq_reset_check() does not specifically check for AP_RESPONSE_Q_NOT_AVAIL, thereby potentially leaking KVM GISC registration and the pinned guest page holding the NIB. This is fixed by adding a case statement for AP_RESPONSE_Q_NOT_AVAIL to apq_status_check() and returning -ENODEV for that case. The caller, apq_reset_check() will then check for this return code and call vfio_ap_free_aqic_resources() to prevent the leak. Problem 3: ~~~~~~~~~ vfio_ap_free_aqic_resources() leaks saved_isc when kvm is NULL vfio_ap_free_aqic_resources() guards the call to kvm_s390_gisc_unregister() with: if (q->saved_isc != VFIO_AP_ISC_INVALID && !WARN_ON(!(q->matrix_mdev && q->matrix_mdev->kvm))) If matrix_mdev->kvm is NULL -- which can happen when vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() has already run and cleared kvm before a subsequent cleanup path reaches this function -- the WARN_ON fires and the entire block is skipped. This leaves q->saved_isc set to a non-invalid value, creating a potential double-free on any subsequent call to this function. When kvm is NULL the KVM guest is already torn down, so kvm_s390_gisc_unregister() need not and cannot be called; however, q->saved_isc must always be cleared. Fix this by separating the kvm_s390_gisc_unregister() call from the q->saved_isc reset. The WARN_ON now guards only the genuinely impossible case of matrix_mdev being NULL. A NULL kvm is handled gracefully by skipping only the unregister call, and q->saved_isc = VFIO_AP_ISC_INVALID is set unconditionally whenever saved_isc was not already invalid. Additionally, add an else clause to the host-config check in vfio_ap_mdev_remove_queue() to call vfio_ap_free_aqic_resources() directly when the queue is not in the host's AP configuration. This serves as a backstop: when the AP bus fires the driver .remove callback after an adapter is removed from the host config, the queue is by definition no longer addressable, so vfio_ap_mdev_reset_queue ---truncated---
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.
drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap_ops.c
- What this is
- S390 VFIO AP DRIVERMAINTAINERS section matched on drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap* · linux-s390@vger.kernel.org · Supported
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_S390|CONFIG_VFIO_AP' /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.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian does not build this code. In 4 releases below, every kernel flavour Debian publishes has the switch off, so the vulnerable file is compiled into no kernel binary Debian ships.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sidn
- n
- not enabled on any flavour - this release does not build the code
- Build switches
- CONFIG_S390, CONFIG_VFIO_AP
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
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
- 2026-10-18 (today)source
- CVSS
- no vector published, unrated
- Attack vector
- not published
- EPSS
- not scored
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- drivers/s390
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.8 | 6.12.112 | da69d3ac5349 |
| 6.8 | 6.18.55 | cf441a0db681 |
| 6.8 | 7.2.9 | 3c3433657c82 |
| 6.8 | 7.3 | 65e05ec252a9 |
| 6.6.15 | 0 | 0 |
| 6.7.3 | 0 | 0 |
Why the CNA scored it this way
The kernel CNA published no CVSS vector and no reasoning for CVE-2026-98473, 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.