CVE-2025-40026

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Don't (re)check L1 intercepts when completing userspace I/O When completing emulation of instruction that generated a userspace exit for I/O, don't recheck L1 intercepts as KVM has already finished that phase of instruction execution, i.e. has already committed to allowing L2 to perform I/O. If L1 (or host userspace) modifies the I/O permission bitmaps during the exit to userspace, KVM will treat the access as being intercepted despite already having emulated the I/O access. Pivot on EMULTYPE_NO_DECODE to detect that KVM is completing emulation. Of the three users of EMULTYPE_NO_DECODE, only complete_emulated_io() (the intended "recipient") can reach the code in question. gp_interception()'s use is mutually exclusive with is_guest_mode(), and complete_emulated_insn_gp() unconditionally pairs EMULTYPE_NO_DECODE with EMULTYPE_SKIP. The bad behavior was detected by a syzkaller program that toggles port I/O interception during the userspace I/O exit, ultimately resulting in a WARN on vcpu->arch.pio.count being non-zero due to KVM no completing emulation of the I/O instruction. WARNING: CPU: 23 PID: 1083 at arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:8039 emulator_pio_in_out+0x154/0x170 [kvm] Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 23 UID: 1000 PID: 1083 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.16.0-rc5-c1610d2d66b1-next-vm #74 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:emulator_pio_in_out+0x154/0x170 [kvm] PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> kvm_fast_pio+0xd6/0x1d0 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x149/0x610 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xda8/0x1ac0 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x244/0x8c0 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x5d/0xc60 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 </TASK>

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2025-10-28
Last modified 2026-04-15
Patch available
Yes

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 3.0 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.301, 5.10.246, 5.15.195, 6.1.157, 6.6.111, 6.12.52, 6.16.12, 6.17.2, 6.18 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 3.0
Fixed in
✓ 5.4.301 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.246 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.195 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.157 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.111 6.6.x ✓ 6.12.52 6.12.x ✓ 6.16.12 6.16.x ✓ 6.17.2 6.17.x ✓ 6.18

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2025-40026 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2025-40026?

    CVE-2025-40026 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 3.0 onward and has been patched in 5.4.301, 5.10.246, 5.15.195 and others. CVE-2025-40026 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2025-40026?

    Yes — CVE-2025-40026 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.301, 5.10.246, 5.15.195 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 3.0 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2025-40026 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2025-40026 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.