CVE-2026-74439 (GCVE-0-2026-74439)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-08-15 05:59
Modified
2026-08-17 05:47
Severity ?
VLAI Severity ?
EPSS score ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down scalable-mode context entry
device_pasid_table_teardown() zeroes the 128-bit scalable-mode context
entry with context_clear_entry() while the Present bit is still set. This
creates a window where the hardware can fetch a torn entry, with some
fields already zeroed while Present is still set, leading to unpredictable
behavior or spurious faults. The context-cache invalidation is issued only
after the entry has been zeroed, and intel_pasid_free_table() then frees
the PASID directory pages, so the IOMMU can keep walking a stale Present=1
entry that points at freed memory.
While x86 provides strong write ordering, the compiler may reorder the two
64-bit writes to the entry, and the hardware fetch is not guaranteed to be
atomic with respect to multiple CPU writes.
Commit c1e4f1dccbe9d ("iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down
context entry") fixed this exact pattern in domain_context_clear_one() and
the copied-context path, but device_pasid_table_teardown() was not
converted.
Align it with the "Guidance to Software for Invalidations" in the VT-d
spec, Section 6.5.3.3, using the same ownership handshake as the sibling
fix: clear only the Present bit, flush it to the IOMMU, perform the
context-cache invalidation, and only then zero the rest of the entry.
References
| URL | Tags | |
|---|---|---|
Impacted products
| Vendor | Product | Version | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux |
Version: 81e921fd321614c2ad8ac333b041aae1da7a1c6d Version: 81e921fd321614c2ad8ac333b041aae1da7a1c6d Version: 81e921fd321614c2ad8ac333b041aae1da7a1c6d Version: 81e921fd321614c2ad8ac333b041aae1da7a1c6d Version: 333fe86968482ca701c609af590003bcea450e8f Version: 6.8.2 ≤ |
||
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/iommu/intel/pasid.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
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"status": "affected",
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{
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{
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{
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"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"drivers/iommu/intel/pasid.c"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
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"version": "6.9"
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{
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"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.12.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.12.97",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.40",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.1.5",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.12.97",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.9",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.18.40",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.9",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.1.5",
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"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
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},
{
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}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\niommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down scalable-mode context entry\n\ndevice_pasid_table_teardown() zeroes the 128-bit scalable-mode context\nentry with context_clear_entry() while the Present bit is still set. This\ncreates a window where the hardware can fetch a torn entry, with some\nfields already zeroed while Present is still set, leading to unpredictable\nbehavior or spurious faults. The context-cache invalidation is issued only\nafter the entry has been zeroed, and intel_pasid_free_table() then frees\nthe PASID directory pages, so the IOMMU can keep walking a stale Present=1\nentry that points at freed memory.\n\nWhile x86 provides strong write ordering, the compiler may reorder the two\n64-bit writes to the entry, and the hardware fetch is not guaranteed to be\natomic with respect to multiple CPU writes.\n\nCommit c1e4f1dccbe9d (\"iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down\ncontext entry\") fixed this exact pattern in domain_context_clear_one() and\nthe copied-context path, but device_pasid_table_teardown() was not\nconverted.\n\nAlign it with the \"Guidance to Software for Invalidations\" in the VT-d\nspec, Section 6.5.3.3, using the same ownership handshake as the sibling\nfix: clear only the Present bit, flush it to the IOMMU, perform the\ncontext-cache invalidation, and only then zero the rest of the entry."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 9.3,
"baseSeverity": "CRITICAL",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:L - The flaw is in Intel VT-d scalable-mode PASID context teardown reached only via local kernel IOMMU device-release paths (intel_iommu_release_device \u2192 device_pasid_table_teardown), triggered by PCI hot-unplug, sysfs driver unbind, or iommu deinit\u2014not by any network-facing protocol.\nAC:L - This is a use-after-free where intel_pasid_free_table() frees PASID directory pages while the IOMMU may still cache a Present=1 context entry; an attacker controlling a PASID-capable device can keep DMA active and time bus removal/teardown to hit the stale-entry window reliably (AC:L per UAF guidance).\nPR:N - A malicious PASID-capable PCIe device can trigger the vulnerable intel_iommu_release_device teardown by physical hot-unplug (pci_stop_and_remove_bus_device) while sustaining DMA, requiring no authenticated host account or capability on the target system.\nUI:N - No victim interaction is required beyond the attacker\u0027s own device removal or driver-unbind orchestration; the vulnerable teardown executes automatically once the PCI/IOMMU release path runs.\nS:C - A stale or torn scalable-mode context entry breaks VT-d DMA isolation\u2014the IOMMU can translate device DMA against freed PASID table memory, crossing the device/host (or guest/host) IOMMU security boundary per kernel IOMMU bypass guidance.\nC:H - With the IOMMU walking freed PASID directory pages, a controlled device can DMA-read host physical memory outside its assigned domain, yielding arbitrary cross-boundary read disclosure (C:H; UAF enables attacker influence over translation contents).\nI:H - The same mistranslation gives the device an arbitrary DMA write primitive against host memory outside its domain, enabling data modification and potential control-flow hijack via memory corruption (standard UAF/IOMMU-bypass I:H guidance).\nA:H - The commit documents unpredictable behavior and spurious DMAR faults from torn Present entries; freed PASID tables under active IOMMU walks can fault-storm, hang, or panic the host\u2014any kernel crash/UAF qualifies as A:H."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:47:13.219Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e9e83bcfe37dc719182500dd823c03ab57d934f0"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/588718101e8449605f1c7e858fecb7cfa701cdab"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fd4077dc92b91b1b844333c0a06bb9e286db10a"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f46452c3df7a8d8a5addc0926e76ef19ea7da0a0"
}
],
"title": "iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down scalable-mode context entry",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-74439",
"datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:59:36.655Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-08-15T05:44:03.897Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:47:13.219Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2"
}
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or seen somewhere by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability is confirmed from an analyst perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: This vulnerability was exploited and seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Patched: This vulnerability was successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not exploited: This vulnerability was not exploited or seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expresses doubt about the veracity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: This vulnerability was not successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
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