High severity · published Jul 4, 2026
CVE-2026-53360
KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use
8.8
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use
As per the GHCB spec, when using GHCB v2+ require the software scratch area
to reside in the GHCB's shared buffer. Note, things like Page State Change
(PSC) requests _rely_ on this behavior, as the guest can't provide a length
when making the request, i.e. the size of the guest payload is bounded by
the size of the shared buffer.
Failure to force usage of the GHCB, and a slew of other flaws, lets a
malicious SNP guest corrupt host kernel heap memory, and leak host heap
layout information.
setup_vmgexit_scratch() allocates a buffer via kvzalloc(exit_info_2),
where exit_info_2 is guest-controlled. With exit_info_2=24, this yields
a 24-byte allocation in kmalloc-cg-32 (32-byte slab objects). The buffer
holds an 8-byte psc_hdr followed by 8-byte psc_entry structs, so only
entries[0] and entries[1] are in-bounds.
snp_begin_psc() validates end_entry against VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT (253)
but NOT against the actual buffer size:
idx_end = hdr->end_entry;
if (idx_end >= VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT) { // checks 253, not buffer
snp_complete_psc(svm, ...);
return 1;
}
for (idx = idx_start; idx <= idx_end; idx++) {
entry_start = entries[idx]; // OOB when idx >= 2
The guest sets end_entry=10+, causing the host to iterate entries[2+]
which are OOB into adjacent slab objects. For each OOB entry:
- The host reads 8 bytes (OOB READ / info leak oracle)
- If the data passes PSC validation, __snp_complete_one_psc() writes
cur_page = 1 or 512 into the entry (OOB WRITE, sev.c:3806)
- If validation fails, the error response reveals whether adjacent
memory is zero vs non-zero (information disclosure to guest)
The guest controls allocation size (exit_info_2), entry range
(cur_entry/end_entry), and can fire unlimited VMGEXITs to repeatedly
hit different slab positions.
By exploiting the variety of bugs, a malicious SEV-SNP guest can:
- OOB read adjacent kmalloc-cg-32 objects (heap layout disclosure)
- OOB write cur_page bits into adjacent objects (heap corruption)
- Trigger use-after-free conditions across VMGEXITs
E.g. with KASAN enabled, a single insmod of the PoC guest module
produces 73 KASAN reports:
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x126/0x890
Read of size 8 at addr ffff888219ffb5e0 by task qemu-system-x86/2199
BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x468/0x890
Write of size 8 at addr ffff888351566648 by task qemu-system-x86/2199
The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888XXXXXXXXX
which belongs to the cache kmalloc-cg-32 of size 32
The buggy address is located N bytes to the right of
allocated 32-byte region [ffff888XXXXXXXXX, ffff888XXXXXXXXX)
Breakdown:
62 slab-out-of-bounds (reads + writes past allocation)
7 slab-use-after-free
4 use-after-free
All credit to Stan for the wonderful description and reproducer!
[sean: write changelog]
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)0.3% · higher than 22% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
KE
Kernel · Linux
6.10 before 6.12.93; 6.13 before 6.18.35; 6.19 before 7.0.12; 7.1; 7.1; 7.1; +2 more · source: NVD
LI
Linux · Linux
4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951 before bf9ba093fbb83c0c9a3dedd50efec29424eca2fc; 4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951 before c9b4198fbc6ed99a9da4bee9f74bb730f926c9ae; 4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951 before b328ede59ac34e7998e1eee5e5f0cc26c2a91846; 4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951 before db3f2195d29344a3cf1e9dd9ab7f21ced7308cf7; 6.10 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53360
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53360
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b328ede59ac34e7998e1eee5e5f0cc26c2a91846
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf9ba093fbb83c0c9a3dedd50efec29424eca2fc
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9b4198fbc6ed99a9da4bee9f74bb730f926c9ae
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db3f2195d29344a3cf1e9dd9ab7f21ced7308cf7
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