High severity · published Jul 4, 2026
CVE-2026-53359
KVM: x86: Fix shadow paging use-after-free due to unexpected role
8.8
CVSS
1.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: x86: Fix shadow paging use-after-free due to unexpected role
Commit 0cb2af2ea66ad ("KVM: x86: Fix shadow paging use-after-free due
to unexpected GFN") fixed a shadow paging mismatch between stored and
computed GFNs; the bug could be triggered by changing a PDE mapping from
outside the guest, and then deleting a memslot. The rmap_remove()
call would miss entries created after the PDE change because the GFN
of the leaf SPTE does not match the GFN of the struct kvm_mmu_page.
A similar hole however remains if the modified PDE points to a non-leaf
page. In this case the gfn can be made to match, but the role does not
match: the original large 2MB page creates a kvm_mmu_page with direct=1,
while the new 4KB needs a kvm_mmu_page with direct=0. However,
kvm_mmu_get_child_sp() does not compare the role, and therefore reuses
the page.
The next step is installing a leaf (4KB) SPTE on the new path which
records an rmap entry under the gfn resolved by the walk. But when
that child is zapped its parent kvm_mmu_page has direct=1 and
kvm_mmu_page_get_gfn() computes the gfn for the 4KB page as
sp->gfn + index instead of using sp->shadowed_translation[] (or sp->gfns[]
in older kernels). It therefore fails to remove the recorded entry.
When the memslot is dropped the shadow page is freed but the rmap
entry survives, as in the scenario that was already fixed. Code that
later walks that gfn (dirty logging, MMU notifier invalidation, and
so on) dereferences an sptep that lies in the freed page, causing the
use-after-free.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)1.4% · higher than 72% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
KE
Kernel · Linux
2.6.36 before 6.1.177; 6.2 before 6.6.144; 6.7 before 6.12.95; 6.13 before 6.18.38; 6.19 before 7.1.3 · source: NVD
LI
Linux · Linux
2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 before 0b5e8ead71e683bcf6232db16234cf7e6d553a23; 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 before b1337aae5e194324e4810d561764e7793f8b3864; 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 before 9291654d69e08542de37755cebe4d5b02c3170d1; 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 before 2ad3afa40ac6aa340dada122f9abfa46c0a6eb35; 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 before 5e470998a23e4c3d89ed24e8172cb22747e61efa; 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 before 1ae7d5a6db6c190ce183e3098ca0e0846e14d462; +2 more · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53359
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53359
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0b5e8ead71e683bcf6232db16234cf7e6d553a23
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1337aae5e194324e4810d561764e7793f8b3864
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9291654d69e08542de37755cebe4d5b02c3170d1
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ad3afa40ac6aa340dada122f9abfa46c0a6eb35
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e470998a23e4c3d89ed24e8172cb22747e61efa
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ae7d5a6db6c190ce183e3098ca0e0846e14d462
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