Описание
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: nv: Fix life cycle of the nested_mmus array The nested_mmus array holds the shadow page tables that are used when a guest is running a nested context. These structures are allocated on VCPU_INIT for whole guest, which implies that they may have to be relocated as the array grows. Should a VCPU_INIT occur whilst a vcpu is actively running an L2 and that the allocation requires relocation, that vcpu will still be running with a pointer to the previous structure, which will have been freed. Fix this by turning the array of structures to an array of pointers, which is now allocated at VM creation, sized to the absolute maximum that KVM can handle. In turn, each VCPU_INIT contributes S2_MMU_PER_VCPU to the pool. No reallocation is ever performed, and the life cycle of each object is much clearer:
- the nested_mmus array is allocated in kvm_init_nested(), and freed in kvm_arch_destroy_vm()
- s2_mmu structures are allocated in kvm_vcpu_init_nested(), and freed
on kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all()
Finally, the freeing of vcpu->arch.vncr_array is made consistent
rather than being done on some failure paths, but not others.
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) subsystem on ARM64 platforms. In nested virtualization setups, reallocating shadow page table memory during virtual processor initialization can leave an active virtual processor referencing memory that has already been freed. A local attacker could exploit this use-after-free condition to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by crashing the system, or potentially escalate privileges.
Отчет
This vulnerability is rated as an Important severity flaw because an attacker operating within a guest virtual machine could trigger a use-after-free condition capable of crashing the hypervisor host or achieving elevated host privileges. Exposure is limited to ARM64 deployments running nested virtualization, where shadow translation structures are reallocated during virtual processor setup. Systems operating standard, non-nested virtual machines or running on non-ARM64 platforms are not subject to this vulnerability.
Меры по смягчению последствий
--- CME Mitigation Guidance (2026-11-02) --- Disclaimer: The following mitigation solutions are provided as a courtesy, pending the application of an official patch. This content was generated utilizing AI tools in conjunction with data from https://cmetaxonomy.org. Customers are advised to independently evaluate and test these temporary mitigations within their own infrastructure. The highest-value action is to prevent dynamic reallocation of the nested_mmus shadow page table array by allocating it as a fixed-size pointer array at VM creation: upgrade to the fixed Kernel/Kernel Ivos Qualcomm/Openshift/Ose Rhel Coreos/Kpatch builds, which pre-allocate nested_mmus as a fixed-size array of pointers during VM creation and allocate per-vCPU MMU structures individually without reallocation, closing all 2 injection vectors (concurrent vCPU initialization during L2 guest execution, dynamic reallocation of the nested_mmus array). Until patched, this is only a concern on Linux ARM64 hosts with KVM nested virtualization enabled — Non-ARM64 platforms and systems operating standard, non-nested virtual machines are unaffected — so Disable nested virtualization or prevent untrusted guests from executing L2 workloads while concurrently initializing vCPUs. As a compensating measure, Enable runtime memory error detection such as KASAN or HWASan to detect use-after-free access when an active vCPU references deallocated shadow page table structures and Enable SLAB freelist hardening with randomization and integrity validation to impede kernel heap exploitation of freed nested_mmus memory. These controls limit blast radius and contain exploitation, but they do not fix the underlying lifecycle use-after-free defect — apply the upstream patch to fully remediate. Highest-impact CME: CME-1005 Runtime Memory Error Detection (KASAN/HWASan) (medium)
Затронутые пакеты
| Платформа | Пакет | Состояние | Рекомендация | Релиз |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | kernel | Affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | kernel | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-rt | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | kernel | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | kernel-rt | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | kernel | Affected | ||
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | kernel-rt | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8 | Not affected | ||
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9 | Affected |
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Дополнительная информация
Статус:
EPSS
8.8 High
CVSS3
Связанные уязвимости
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: nv: Fix life cycle of the nested_mmus array The nested_mmus array holds the shadow page tables that are used when a guest is running a nested context. These structures are allocated on VCPU_INIT for whole guest, which implies that they may have to be relocated as the array grows. Should a VCPU_INIT occur whilst a vcpu is actively running an L2 and that the allocation requires relocation, that vcpu will still be running with a pointer to the previous structure, which will have been freed. Fix this by turning the array of structures to an array of pointers, which is now allocated at VM creation, sized to the absolute maximum that KVM can handle. In turn, each VCPU_INIT contributes S2_MMU_PER_VCPU to the pool. No reallocation is ever performed, and the life cycle of each object is much clearer: - the nested_mmus array is allocated in kvm_init_nested(), and freed in kvm_arch_destroy_vm() - s2_mmu structures ...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: nv: Fix life cycle of the nested_mmus array The nested_mmus array holds the shadow page tables that are used when a guest is running a nested context. These structures are allocated on VCPU_INIT for whole guest, which implies that they may have to be relocated as the array grows. Should a VCPU_INIT occur whilst a vcpu is actively running an L2 and that the allocation requires relocation, that vcpu will still be running with a pointer to the previous structure, which will have been freed. Fix this by turning the array of structures to an array of pointers, which is now allocated at VM creation, sized to the absolute maximum that KVM can handle. In turn, each VCPU_INIT contributes S2_MMU_PER_VCPU to the pool. No reallocation is ever performed, and the life cycle of each object is much clearer: - the nested_mmus array is allocated in kvm_init_nested(), and freed in kvm_arch_destroy_vm() - s2_mmu struc
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: K ...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: nv: Fix life cycle of the nested_mmus array The nested_mmus array holds the shadow page tables that are used when a guest is running a nested context. These structures are allocated on VCPU_INIT for whole guest, which implies that they may have to be relocated as the array grows. Should a VCPU_INIT occur whilst a vcpu is actively running an L2 and that the allocation requires relocation, that vcpu will still be running with a pointer to the previous structure, which will have been freed. Fix this by turning the array of structures to an array of pointers, which is now allocated at VM creation, sized to the absolute maximum that KVM can handle. In turn, each VCPU_INIT contributes S2_MMU_PER_VCPU to the pool. No reallocation is ever performed, and the life cycle of each object is much clearer: - the nested_mmus array is allocated in kvm_init_nested(), and freed in kvm_arch_destroy_vm() - s2_mmu st...
EPSS
8.8 High
CVSS3