CVE-2026-98472
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Free have_run_cpus during VM destruction even if VM is no longer SEV Unconditionally free SEV's "have run CPUs" cpumask in the VM destroy path, i.e. even for what appear to be non-SEV VMs, as an SEV VM becomes a non-SEV VM if its state is intra-host migrated. Alternatively, the mask could be freed in sev_migrate_from() when "converting" the source VM, but that gets annoying because ideally KVM would nullify the mask to guard against UAF, and nullifying the mask would need be conditioned on CPUMASK_OFFSTACK=y. Freeing the mask during sev_migrate_from() is also not robust against other KVM bugs, though that's kind of a moot point since any such bugs would show up even if sev->active is never set. I.e. KVM must get that side of things correct. But, that's not a great reason to add more code just to make things marginally less robust.
Affected versions
Linux kernel versions
6.17
and later are affected. Fixed in
6.18.55,
7.2.9,
7.3
and their respective stable series.
References
3 totalFrequently asked questions
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What is CVE-2026-98472?
CVE-2026-98472 is a unscored severity Linux kernel vulnerability . It affects Linux kernel versions from 6.17 onward and has been patched in 6.18.55, 7.2.9 and 7.3. CVE-2026-98472 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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Is there a patch available for CVE-2026-98472?
Yes. CVE-2026-98472 has been patched. Fixed versions include 6.18.55, 7.2.9 and 7.3. If you are running Linux kernel 6.17 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.
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Is CVE-2026-98472 actively exploited?
No. CVE-2026-98472 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.