High severity · published Jul 19, 2026
CVE-2026-63941
KVM: arm64: Correctly cap ZCR_EL2 provided by a guest hypervisor
8.8
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: arm64: Correctly cap ZCR_EL2 provided by a guest hypervisor
ZCR_EL2 can be updated by a VHE guest hypervisor either using ZCR_EL2
(which traps) or ZCR_EL1 (which does not trap). KVM handles both in
different way:
- on ZCR_EL2 trap, ZCR_EL2.LEN is immediately capped at the VM's own
VL limit. This has the potential to break existing SW that relies
on the full LEN field to be stateful.
- on ZCR_EL1 access, we do absolutely nothing.
On restoring the SVE context for an L2 guest, we directly restore the
guest hypervisor's view of ZCR_EL2 into the physical ZCR_EL2. If the
guest's view of the register was updated using the ZCR_EL2 accessor,
the value has already been sanitised (with the caveat mentioned above).
But if the guest used ZCR_EL1, the raw value is written into the HW,
and the L2 guest can now access VLs that it shouldn't.
Fix all the above by moving the VL capping to the restore points,
ensuring that:
- the HW is always programmed with a capped value, irrespective of
the accessor being used,
- the ZCR_EL2.LEN field is always completely stateful, irrespective
of the accessor being used.
Additionally, move ZCR_EL2 to be a sanitised register, ensuring that
only the LEN field is actually stateful. This requires some creative
construction of the RES0 mask, as the sysreg generation script does
not yet generate RAZ/WI fields.
[maz: rewrote commit message, tidy up access_zcr_el2()]
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)0.1% · higher than 4% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
KE
Kernel · Linux
6.11 before 6.18.57; 6.19 before 7.0.12; 7.1; 7.1; 7.1; 7.1; +1 more · source: NVD
LI
Linux · Linux
b3d29a8230998b36afecf494b199211d26052785 before 2090c1a2368339eab0e14dcde12fdf6a5ea6359d; b3d29a8230998b36afecf494b199211d26052785 before 742a9b5ccd8c46caf983ca90c94f855466968e34; b3d29a8230998b36afecf494b199211d26052785 before 83726330748981372bde86ed5411d7b306612991; 6.11 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-63941
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-63941
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2090c1a2368339eab0e14dcde12fdf6a5ea6359d
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/742a9b5ccd8c46caf983ca90c94f855466968e34
Patch
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83726330748981372bde86ed5411d7b306612991
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