CVE-2026-99017 (GCVE-0-2026-99017)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5
Published
2026-10-23 12:20
Modified
2026-10-24 14:10
Severity ?
VLAI Severity ?
EPSS score ?
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
riscv: errata: select RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY for THEAD GHOSTWRITE
errata_probe_ghostwrite() only marks the CPU as vulnerable when it is
called at the RISCV_ALTERNATIVES_EARLY_BOOT stage, and the mitigation
in ghostwrite_enable_mitigation() only takes effect if the vulnerable
state was recorded before the boot alternatives are patched.
The early boot stage is only executed when CONFIG_RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY
is enabled, which currently is only selected by ERRATA_THEAD_MAE. In a
kernel built with ERRATA_THEAD_GHOSTWRITE=y but ERRATA_THEAD_MAE=n, the
early alternatives never run, so ghostwrite_state is never set to
VULNERABLE: ghostwrite_enable_mitigation() returns false, xtheadvector
remains enabled, and sysfs reports "Not affected" on a vulnerable
T-Head C9xx CPU.
Select RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY from ERRATA_THEAD_GHOSTWRITE so that the
vulnerability is detected in the early boot stage and the default
mitigation is applied.
References
Impacted products
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"defaultStatus": "unaffected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/riscv/Kconfig.errata"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"lessThan": "fa465a7819ecbe5801b78c088d3cadaf2664b8ca",
"status": "affected",
"version": "4bf97069239bcfca9840936313c7ac35a6e04488",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "7fee577a2fa78b9a76da015beec1ccf978746ebb",
"status": "affected",
"version": "4bf97069239bcfca9840936313c7ac35a6e04488",
"versionType": "git"
},
{
"lessThan": "298510bbc7c3017c0faf481c6ea66f1065b657b4",
"status": "affected",
"version": "4bf97069239bcfca9840936313c7ac35a6e04488",
"versionType": "git"
}
]
},
{
"defaultStatus": "affected",
"product": "Linux",
"programFiles": [
"arch/riscv/Kconfig.errata"
],
"repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
"vendor": "Linux",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "6.14"
},
{
"lessThan": "6.14",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "0",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "6.18.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "6.18.57",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "7.2.*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.2.11",
"versionType": "semver"
},
{
"lessThanOrEqual": "*",
"status": "unaffected",
"version": "7.3",
"versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
}
]
}
],
"cpeApplicability": [
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "6.18.57",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.2.11",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
"vulnerable": true
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "7.3",
"versionStartIncluding": "6.14",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nriscv: errata: select RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY for THEAD GHOSTWRITE\n\nerrata_probe_ghostwrite() only marks the CPU as vulnerable when it is\ncalled at the RISCV_ALTERNATIVES_EARLY_BOOT stage, and the mitigation\nin ghostwrite_enable_mitigation() only takes effect if the vulnerable\nstate was recorded before the boot alternatives are patched.\n\nThe early boot stage is only executed when CONFIG_RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY\nis enabled, which currently is only selected by ERRATA_THEAD_MAE. In a\nkernel built with ERRATA_THEAD_GHOSTWRITE=y but ERRATA_THEAD_MAE=n, the\nearly alternatives never run, so ghostwrite_state is never set to\nVULNERABLE: ghostwrite_enable_mitigation() returns false, xtheadvector\nremains enabled, and sysfs reports \"Not affected\" on a vulnerable\nT-Head C9xx CPU.\n\nSelect RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY from ERRATA_THEAD_GHOSTWRITE so that the\nvulnerability is detected in the early boot stage and the default\nmitigation is applied."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV3_1": {
"baseScore": 7,
"baseSeverity": "HIGH",
"vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"version": "3.1"
},
"scenarios": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "AV:L - A local process executes the GhostWrite vector sequence; its first vector instruction follows handle_exception() through do_trap_insn_illegal() to riscv_v_first_use_handler(), after which the faulty store executes in U-mode. No network protocol carries the causal input.\nAC:H - Exposure requires a vulnerable T-Head C9xx with xtheadvector and the unusual build combination ERRATA_THEAD_GHOSTWRITE=y plus ERRATA_THEAD_MAE=n; both errata options default to y, and an attacker cannot create this kernel configuration.\nPR:L - riscv_v_first_use_handler() and riscv_v_vstate_ctrl_set_current() contain no capability check, so an ordinary local user can enable vector state and execute the sequence; no administrative privilege or user namespace is required.\nUI:N - The attacking process itself enables or first-uses vector state and executes the faulty store; no victim must mount media, open a file, or perform another action.\nS:U - The missed disable_xtheadvector() call lets a user process escalate into the kernel on the same host; this is a local user-to-kernel privilege escalation under the host\u0027s existing security authority.\nC:H - Leaving xtheadvector enabled exposes GhostWrite\u0027s arbitrary physical-write primitive; overwriting a PTE\u0027s page-frame number creates an arbitrary physical-read mapping covering kernel and other-process memory.\nI:H - Because ghostwrite_enable_mitigation() returns false without the early VULNERABLE state, faulty high-order vector stores remain usable for attacker-chosen byte writes to physical memory, including PTEs and kernel or machine-mode code.\nA:H - The same unrestricted physical writes can corrupt kernel text, page tables, or device MMIO, causing an unrecoverable kernel crash or system hang."
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-10-24T14:10:04.808Z",
"orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"shortName": "Linux"
},
"references": [
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/fa465a7819ecbe5801b78c088d3cadaf2664b8ca"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fee577a2fa78b9a76da015beec1ccf978746ebb"
},
{
"url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/298510bbc7c3017c0faf481c6ea66f1065b657b4"
}
],
"title": "riscv: errata: select RISCV_ALTERNATIVE_EARLY for THEAD GHOSTWRITE",
"x_generator": {
"engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
}
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
"assignerShortName": "Linux",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-99017",
"datePublished": "2026-10-23T12:20:53.518Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:25:14.386Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-10-24T14:10:04.808Z",
"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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