CVE-2026-89928

Status: UPDATED  |  Advisory ID: CVE-2026-89928

Key Details

Affected Products, Subsystems & Sectors

What to Know

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: x86/mmu: Consume the locked rmap value in the lockless rmap walk

__kvm_rmap_lock() deliberately elides the rmap lock when it observes an

empty rmap. In that case kvm_rmap_lock_readonly() also re-enables

preemption and returns zero, so the caller holds neither the rmap lock

nor a preemption reference. The elision documents the invariant it

relies on:

* Elide the lock if the rmap is empty, as lockless walkers (read-only

* mode) don't need to (and can't) walk an empty rmap, nor can they add

* entries to the rmap. I.e. the only paths that process empty rmaps

* do so while holding mmu_lock for write, and are mutually exclusive.

kvm_rmap_age_gfn_range() ignores the returned value and unconditionally

enters for_each_rmap_spte_lockless(). The iterator started with

rmap_get_first(), which re-reads rmap_head->val rather than using the

value returned by the lock. If a writer populates the rmap between the

lock's read and the iterator's re-read, the aging path walks the newly

installed rmap without holding its lock.

For a KVM_RMAP_MANY rmap this leaves the walker following a

pte_list_desc chain that it never locked. A writer holding mmu_lock for

write may free that chain (e.g. kvm_zap_all_rmap_sptes() on the recycle

path, or any rmap zap) via kmem_cache_free() while the walk is in

progress, giving a slab use-after-free. Nothing serialises the two: the

aging path runs without mmu_lock when CONFIG_KVM_MMU_LOCKLESS_AGING=y,

and the rmap lock that would otherwise exclude the writer was elided.

Because the empty path re-enables preemption, the interval between the

two reads can span an arbitrary scheduling delay.

Fix the class of bug by having the lockless walk consume the value

returned by the lock instead of re-reading the rmap. Split

rmap_get_first() into __rmap_get_first(), which starts an iterator from

an already-read rmap value, and make for_each_rmap_spte_lockless() take

that value and call __rmap_get_first() directly.

kvm_rmap_age_gfn_range() passes the value returned by

kvm_rmap_lock_readonly(): when the lock was elided the value is zero,

__rmap_get_first() returns NULL, and the walk is skipped. No lockless

walker re-reads the rmap, so the lock-elision invariant cannot be

violated, and no lock()-without-paired-unlock() path is added to the

aging code. (NVD)

What to Do

Monitor Linux's web page for any future patch releases.

References