CVE-2026-72288

KVM: arm64: vgic: Handle race between interrupt affinity change and LPI disabling

Published Aug 15, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 9.3 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: arm64: vgic: Handle race between interrupt affinity change and LPI disabling

Hyunwoo Kim reports some really bad races should the following
situation occur:

- LPI-I is pending in vcpu-B's AP list
- vcpu-A writes to vcpu-B's RD to disable its LPIs
- vcpu-C moves I from B to C

If the last two race nicely enough, vgic_prune_ap_list() can drop
the irq and AP list locks, reacquire them, and in the interval
the irq has been freed. UAF follows.

The fix is two-fold:

- Before dropping the irq and ap_list locks, take a reference on
the irq

- Do not try to handle migration of the pending bit: there is no
expectation that this state is retained, as per the architecture

With that, we're sure that the interrupt is still around, and we
safely remove it from the AP list as it has no target at this
stage (unless another interrupt fires, but that's another story).

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4904-1 linux-6.12 security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8781-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA Tegra) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-2 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-3 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8816-4 Linux kernel (GKE) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8888-2 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9003-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-9043-1 Linux kernel (NVIDIA) vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-416
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-416
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: vgic: Handle race between interrupt affinity change and LPI disabling Hyunwoo Kim reports some really bad races should the following situation occur: - LPI-I is pending in vcpu-B's AP list - vcpu-A writes to vcpu-B's RD to disable its LPIs - vcpu-C moves I from B to C If the last two race nicely enough, vgic_prune_ap_list() can drop the irq and AP list locks, reacquire them, and in the interval the irq has been freed. UAF follows. The fix is two-fold: - Before dropping the irq and ap_list locks, take a reference on the irq - Do not try to handle migration of the pending bit: there is no expectation that this state is retained, as per the architecture With that, we're sure that the interrupt is still around, and we safely remove it from the AP list as it has no target at this stage (unless another interrupt fires, but that's another story).
Title KVM: arm64: vgic: Handle race between interrupt affinity change and LPI disabling
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Oct 30, 2026, 12:29 PM
Reserved
Aug 9, 2026, 3:40 AM
Status
Received
Published
Aug 15, 2026, 6:22 AM
Modified
Oct 30, 2026, 1:19 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Aug 15, 2026, 12:00 AM