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CVE-2026-98717

KVM: x86/mmu: Bail from shadow walks if the root is invalid or a dummy

CVSS score

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EPSS probability

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Risk score

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Published

16 h ago

Patch status has not yet been verified

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Vulnerability description

CVE AI research

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DayBreach AI Explanation

Verified against sources

Linux Kernel KVM x86 MMU Kernel Null Pointer Dereference Vulnerability

Sources read

2

Source agreement

Tam uyum

Evidence confidence

%63

Short explanation

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel KVM x86 subsystem can lead to a kernel NULL pointer dereference when memslot creation races with a stage-2 page fault from L2.

Why does it matter?

This vulnerability allows conditions where KVM x86 MMU shadow page table walks trigger a kernel panic or crash due to improper handling of dummy or invalid roots.

What should be done?

  • Follow the vendor advisory for patch status
  • Apply available stable kernel updates
Chain of evidence and sources2 verified claims

KVM x86 MMU alt sisteminde bellek yuvası oluşturma ile aşama-2 sayfa hatası yarışması NULL pointer dereference hatasına neden olur.

Yama durumu resmî kaynaklarda incelenmiş olup durum belirsizdir.

Show the technical text from the sources

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86/mmu: Bail from shadow walks if the root is invalid or a dummy When walking shadow page tables, immediately terminate the walk if the root is a "dummy" root, i.e. a root whose top-level page table is backed by the zero page, but otherwise doesn't exist. If memslot creation races with a stage-2 page fault (EPT violation or #NPF) from L2, then if the stars align, KVM will attempt to walk shadow page tables using the zero page and hit a NULL pointer deref. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000021 #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page PGD 0 P4D 0 Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP CPU: 30 UID: 1000 PID: 941 Comm: qemu Not tainted 7.2.0-rc2-1b731e5ded48-next-vm #1741 PREEMPTLAZY Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:__kvm_mmu_invalidate_addr+0xea/0x210 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> kvm_mmu_invalidate_addr+0x92/0xe0 [kvm] __kvm_inject_emulated_page_fault+0x67/0x80 [kvm] ept_page_fault+0x160/0x850 [kvm] kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0x102/0x1f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8e/0x6b0 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x163/0x640 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x960/0x2120 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2c7/0x970 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x90/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x67/0x5f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 RIP: 0033:0x7f606d0b53bb Opportunistically harden the shadow walks against fully invalid roots, but WARN, as all callers are expected/required to pre-check for a valid root. Don't WARN in the dummy root case as the whole point of using a dummy root is to provide a root that's valid enough to enter the guest, i.e. it should Just Work for all flows except those that *need* to know about dummy roots. Alternatively, KVM could allocate a dedicated page and associated shadow page structure for the dummy root, which is very tempting as it such an approach should be more resilient against unexpected behavior. But that would be a much larger and thus riskier change than simply terminating walks of dummy roots.

Explanation produced with the local gemini-flash-lite-latest model. Numerical metrics and the KEV, patch and exploit statuses are not determined by AI.

IMPACT: Affected Products and Software

Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-98717 vulnerability. Where our threat engine knows the exact affected versions, they are listed below.

IDVENDORPRODUCTACTION
1linuxLinux View
2linuxLinux View
Total affected vendors: 1|Products: 2

RED HAT CSAF/VEX: Product Impact Check

Red Hat has not yet published a CSAF/VEX impact record for this CVE. This does not mean “not affected”.

SCORING: CVSS from Multiple Sources

CVSS Scores

The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardised framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and display CVSS scores from several sources for each CVE.

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Patch and Remediation Guide

Solution & Remediation Advisory

Patch status unknown

İncelenen resmî kaynaklarda yama durumu doğrulanamadı. Bu sonuç “yama yok” anlamına gelmez.

Confirm the affected product and version against the source evidence above.
Restrict access to internet-facing services and apply network segmentation.
Until a patch is confirmed, follow the vendor advisory; do not read an unknown status as “no patch”.
Monitor server logs and network endpoints for signs of anomalous execution.

Public exploit and active exploitation status

Verified exploit intelligence

No verified public PoC, exploit repository or Metasploit module has been found for this CVE yet.

Weakness Classification and Attack Patterns (CWE & CAPEC)

CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorises the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-98717 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-98717 weaknesses.

Official Sources and Advisories

Yama durumu bilinmiyor

İncelenen resmî kaynaklarda yama durumu doğrulanamadı. Bu sonuç “yama yok” anlamına gelmez.

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