CVE-2026-74568 (GCVE-0-2026-74568)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-08-15 12:28
Modified
2026-08-17 05:48
Severity ?
VLAI Severity ?
EPSS score ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: arm64: vgic: Fix race between LPI release and re-registration
Fix a potential race between decrementing an LPI's reference count and
evicting that structure from the LPI xarray.
LPI structures are maintained in the VGIC LPI xarray (dist->lpi_xa).
When the reference count of an LPI structure drops to zero,
vgic_release_lpi_locked() removes the structure from the xarray and
frees it under the xarray lock.
However, the release of an LPI can race with a concurrent LPI
re-registration with the same INTID via vgic_add_lpi() on another CPU,
since the reference count drop and the xarray eviction are not performed
in a single atomic step. This can happen e.g. if the guest issues a
DISCARD while the LPI is still referenced from a vCPU's active-pending
list (ap_list), and the same INTID is re-mapped via MAPTI.
Particularly, vgic_release_lpi_locked() is called from two distinct
paths: direct release via vgic_put_irq(), and deferred release via
vgic_release_deleted_lpis(). During direct release, the issue can result
in deleting a newly registered LPI from the xarray:
CPU0 (Releasing LPI) CPU1 (Adding new LPI)
==================== =====================
vgic_put_irq()
__vgic_put_irq()
refcount_dec_and_test()
vgic_add_lpi()
xa_lock_irqsave()
old_irq = xa_load(.., intid)
vgic_try_get_irq_ref(old_irq) == false
new IRQ inserted --> __xa_store(.., intid, ..)
xa_unlock_irqrestore()
xa_lock_irqsave();
vgic_release_lpi_locked()
__xa_erase(.., irq->intid) <-- BUG: new IRQ is erased
kfree_rcu(old_irq)
During the deferred release path, the old IRQ can be leaked:
CPU0 (Releasing LPI) CPU1 (Adding new LPI)
==================== =====================
vgic_put_irq_norelease()
__vgic_put_irq()
refcount_dec_and_test()
irq->pending_release = true
vgic_add_lpi()
xa_lock_irqsave()
old_irq = xa_load(.., intid)
vgic_try_get_irq_ref(oldirq) == false
BUG: old IRQ overwritten --> __xa_store(.., intid, ..)
xa_unlock_irqrestore()
vgic_release_deleted_lpis()
xa_lock_irqsave()
xa_for_each() { .. } <-- old IRQ with pending_release = true
is gone, so it cannot be released
To fix the direct release path, move the reference count drop inside
the xarray lock, making sure that vgic_add_lpi() never encounters the
to-be-released LPI.
In the deferred release path, the refcount drop must happen under a raw
spinlock, so the xarray lock cannot be grabbed, and the same solution
does not work. Instead, update vgic_add_lpi(), so that if it evicts
an LPI from the xarray, it takes on the responsibility of freeing it.
Consequently, an LPI may now be freed concurrently after a deferred
release drops the refcount, so accessing the pending_release field is no
longer safe from use-after-free. Delete all uses of the flag, and update
vgic_release_deleted_lpis() to identify orphaned LPIs purely based on
their refcount.
References
Impacted products
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/arm64/kvm/vgic/vgic-its.c",
"arch/arm64/kvm/vgic/vgic.c",
"include/kvm/arm_vgic.h"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "292e80a159aa88635bf668a7212cfdf526b8bd52",
"status": "affected",
"version": "3a08a6ca7c373198c84e2a8c025c395ee966ff8a",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "cbfe2b24a1ea9de35032dbdd100fdc700f5be92d",
"status": "affected",
"version": "3a08a6ca7c373198c84e2a8c025c395ee966ff8a",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/arm64/kvm/vgic/vgic-its.c",
"arch/arm64/kvm/vgic/vgic.c",
"include/kvm/arm_vgic.h"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.17"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.17",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.1.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.1.8",
"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": "7.1.8",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.17",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.2",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.17",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nKVM: arm64: vgic: Fix race between LPI release and re-registration\n\nFix a potential race between decrementing an LPI\u0027s reference count and\nevicting that structure from the LPI xarray.\n\nLPI structures are maintained in the VGIC LPI xarray (dist-\u003elpi_xa).\nWhen the reference count of an LPI structure drops to zero,\nvgic_release_lpi_locked() removes the structure from the xarray and\nfrees it under the xarray lock.\n\nHowever, the release of an LPI can race with a concurrent LPI\nre-registration with the same INTID via vgic_add_lpi() on another CPU,\nsince the reference count drop and the xarray eviction are not performed\nin a single atomic step. This can happen e.g. if the guest issues a\nDISCARD while the LPI is still referenced from a vCPU\u0027s active-pending\nlist (ap_list), and the same INTID is re-mapped via MAPTI.\n\nParticularly, vgic_release_lpi_locked() is called from two distinct\npaths: direct release via vgic_put_irq(), and deferred release via\nvgic_release_deleted_lpis(). During direct release, the issue can result\nin deleting a newly registered LPI from the xarray:\n\n CPU0 (Releasing LPI) CPU1 (Adding new LPI)\n ==================== =====================\n vgic_put_irq()\n __vgic_put_irq()\n refcount_dec_and_test()\n vgic_add_lpi()\n xa_lock_irqsave()\n old_irq = xa_load(.., intid)\n vgic_try_get_irq_ref(old_irq) == false\n new IRQ inserted --\u003e __xa_store(.., intid, ..)\n xa_unlock_irqrestore()\n xa_lock_irqsave();\n vgic_release_lpi_locked()\n __xa_erase(.., irq-\u003eintid) \u003c-- BUG: new IRQ is erased\n kfree_rcu(old_irq)\n\nDuring the deferred release path, the old IRQ can be leaked:\n\n CPU0 (Releasing LPI) CPU1 (Adding new LPI)\n ==================== =====================\n vgic_put_irq_norelease()\n __vgic_put_irq()\n refcount_dec_and_test()\n irq-\u003epending_release = true\n vgic_add_lpi()\n xa_lock_irqsave()\n old_irq = xa_load(.., intid)\n vgic_try_get_irq_ref(oldirq) == false\n BUG: old IRQ overwritten --\u003e __xa_store(.., intid, ..)\n xa_unlock_irqrestore()\n\n vgic_release_deleted_lpis()\n xa_lock_irqsave()\n xa_for_each() { .. } \u003c-- old IRQ with pending_release = true\n is gone, so it cannot be released\n\nTo fix the direct release path, move the reference count drop inside\nthe xarray lock, making sure that vgic_add_lpi() never encounters the\nto-be-released LPI.\n\nIn the deferred release path, the refcount drop must happen under a raw\nspinlock, so the xarray lock cannot be grabbed, and the same solution\ndoes not work. Instead, update vgic_add_lpi(), so that if it evicts\nan LPI from the xarray, it takes on the responsibility of freeing it.\nConsequently, an LPI may now be freed concurrently after a deferred\nrelease drops the refcount, so accessing the pending_release field is no\nlonger safe from use-after-free. Delete all uses of the flag, and update\nvgic_release_deleted_lpis() to identify orphaned LPIs purely based on\ntheir refcount."
}
],
"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 bug is reached when a malicious KVM guest writes emulated GICv3 ITS MMIO (GITS_CWRITER), processing DISCARD/MAPTI commands that call vgic_add_lpi() and vgic_put_irq(); this requires guest code execution on the host, not remote network input.\nAC:L - The race is guest-driven and repeatable: a malicious guest can keep an LPI referenced on a vCPU ap_list, issue DISCARD, and concurrently re-map the same INTID via MAPTI across vCPUs, controlling both sides of the refcount/xarray race.\nPR:N - Exploitation requires only code inside a KVM guest on an arm64 host with VGICv3 ITS/LPI (common on cloud ARM servers); no host root, CAP_SYS_ADMIN, or other elevated host privileges are needed beyond normal VM tenancy.\nUI:N - No victim interaction is required; the attacker fully controls guest ITS command submission, interrupt injection, and multi-vCPU timing from within the VM.\nS:C - Corrupting host-kernel VGIC LPI objects (lpi_xa entries, vgic_irq structures) from guest MMIO crosses the KVM virtual-machine security boundary and can enable guest-to-host escape.\nC:H - The race can erase a newly registered LPI while freeing the old one, leaving stale host pointers (ite-\u003eirq, ap_list) to freed vgic_irq objects; this use-after-free enables arbitrary host kernel memory disclosure via heap reuse.\nI:H - Host heap corruption of vgic_irq structures and xarray state from the race provides use-after-free write primitives that can be leveraged for arbitrary host kernel modification and VM escape code execution.\nA:H - The bug can cause host kernel crashes (oops/panic) from freeing live LPIs, orphaned IRQ state, and use-after-free during concurrent VGIC interrupt handling on multiple vCPUs."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:48:47.432Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/292e80a159aa88635bf668a7212cfdf526b8bd52"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cbfe2b24a1ea9de35032dbdd100fdc700f5be92d"
}
],
"title": "KVM: arm64: vgic: Fix race between LPI release and re-registration",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-74568",
"datePublished": "2026-08-15T12:28:08.859Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-08-15T05:44:03.917Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:48:47.432Z",
"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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