Critical severity · published Sep 16, 2026
CVE-2026-89775
KVM: arm64: Handle negative S1 walk levels in VNCR TLB size evaluation
9.3
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: arm64: Handle negative S1 walk levels in VNCR TLB size evaluation
Computing the effects of a TLB invalidation involves looking at
the size of the mapping cached by the TLB. For S1 mappings such as
VNCR, this is deducted from the combination of the base granule size
and the mapping level.
However, this implies that the S1 MMU is *on*. When the MMU is off,
we indicate this with the level being set to a "creative" value of
-127 (S1_MMU_DISABLED).
This ends-up being misinterpreted by pgshift_level_to_ttl() as it
doesn't handle negative levels at all (the level is immediately cast
to a u8 and only the bottom two bits considered), leading to an
invalidation size of 0. Not helpful.
Tidy-up pgshift_level_to_ttl() to handle these negative levels, and
ttl_to_size() to always return SZ_1G when no valid TTL is present.
This allows the removal of open-coded checks for similar situations.
Note that the check for a negative value not explicitely checking for
S1_MMU_DISABLED is deliberate, so that actual negative levels introduced
with LVA2 and D128 can take the same path if we ever support them.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 15% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
LI
Linux · Linux
7270cc9157f474dfc46750a34c9d7defc686b2eb before be54a70067c7dbe1381157e8a238fa4b16ea9c05; 7270cc9157f474dfc46750a34c9d7defc686b2eb before 1c9fca34b9625a67a7f1a03c8604f3df760c6c49; 7270cc9157f474dfc46750a34c9d7defc686b2eb before 8053393680d4fa3eb962667d2be95dd39f0940e5; 6.16 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89775
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89775
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c9fca34b9625a67a7f1a03c8604f3df760c6c49
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8053393680d4fa3eb962667d2be95dd39f0940e5
git.kernel.org
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/be54a70067c7dbe1381157e8a238fa4b16ea9c05
www.openwall.com
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/16/14
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