CVE-2026-23402
MediumIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86/mmu: Only WARN in direct MMUs when overwriting shadow-present SPTE Adjust KVM's sanity check against overwriting a shadow-present SPTE with a another SPTE with a different target PFN to only apply to direct MMUs, i.e. only to MMUs without shadowed gPTEs. While it's impossible for KVM to overwrite a shadow-present SPTE in response to a guest write, writes from outside the scope of KVM, e.g. from host userspace, aren't detected by KVM's write tracking and so can break KVM's shadow paging rules. ------------[ cut here ]------------ pfn != spte_to_pfn(*sptep) WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c:3069 at mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm], CPU#0: vmx_ept_stale_r/872 Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 872 Comm: vmx_ept_stale_r Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2-eafebd2d2ab0-sink-vm #319 PREEMPT Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> ept_page_fault+0x535/0x7f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0xee/0x1f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8d/0x620 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x18c/0x5a0 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xc55/0x1c20 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2d5/0x980 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0xb5/0x730 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
CVSS 3.1 score
5.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
6.16
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.18.21,
6.19.11,
7.0
and their respective stable series.
References
The following references provide additional information about CVE-2026-23402 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a1e0f7150639bc30a8e75476d1c7daab77d44992
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bab090e8fd5607f77379ea78b9d0c683cb1538a9
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PatchKernel patch commithttps://git.kernel.org/stable/c/df83746075778958954aa0460cca55f4b3fc9c02
Frequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-23402?
CVE-2026-23402 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.16 onward and has been patched in 6.18.21, 6.19.11 and 7.0. CVE-2026-23402 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-23402?
CVE-2026-23402 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H. -
Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-23402?
Yes — CVE-2026-23402 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.21, 6.19.11 and 7.0. If you are running Linux kernel 6.16 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-23402 actively exploited?
No — CVE-2026-23402 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.