CVE-2026-64561 Details
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Check for invalid/obsolete root *after* making MMU pages available Check for a "stale" page fault, i.e. for an invalid and/or obsolete root, after making MMU pages available for the shadow MMU. If reclaiming shadow pages zaps an in-use root, i.e. marks it invalid, then KVM will attempt to map memory into an invalid root. On its own, populating an invalid root is "fine", but because child shadow pages inherit their parent's role, any children created during the map/fetch will be created as invalid pages, thus violating KVM's invariant that invalid pages are never on the list of active MMU pages. Note, the underlying flaw has existed since KVM first started tracking invalid roots in 2008 (commit 2e53d63acba7, "KVM: MMU: ignore zapped root pagetables"), but the true badness only came along in 2020 (Linux 5.9) with the invariant that invalid shadow pages can't be on the list of active pages. Note #2, inheriting role.invalid when creating child shadow pages is also far from ideal; that flaw will be addressed separately.
A vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's KVM module for x86 architecture, specifically in how it manages shadow page tables. The issue arises when the kernel fails to properly check for invalid or outdated root page tables after making memory management unit (MMU) pages available for shadow virtualization. This oversight can lead to 'stale' page faults, where the KVM attempts to map memory into a root that has been marked invalid. While this might seem harmless, it creates a cascade effect: child shadow pages inherit the invalid status of their parent, resulting in a violation of KVM's rule that invalid pages cannot be active. This flaw has been present since 2008 but only became problematic in Linux 5.9, when the active page list was updated to exclude invalid shadow pages.
Users can upgrade to the latest version of the Linux kernel where this vulnerability has been addressed. Instructions for upgrading can be found in the official Linux kernel documentation.
Metrics
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:
No CVSS 4.0 data is available for this CVE.
CVSS 3.x Severity and Vector Strings:
No data available for CVSS Version 2.0 on this CVE.
No SSVC data is available for this CVE.
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Weakness Enumeration
No weakness enumeration is available for this CVE.
Affected Products
No affected product data is available for this CVE.
Change History
6 change records found show changes
| Date | Action | Recorded By |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Aug 19, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Aug 17, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Aug 9, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Aug 8, 2026 | CVE Modified | kernel.org |
| Aug 4, 2026 | New CVE Received | kernel.org |