CVE-2026-81627

Qemu-kvm: vapic writable rom alias can escape the option-rom window and expose locked smram

Published Sep 18, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 8.2 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A flaw was found in QEMU. The VAPIC setup hypercall in hw/i386/vapic.c does not validate that the writable RAM alias remains within the option ROM window. A privileged guest user on a Q35/KVM machine can position this alias over locked SMRAM, bypassing chipset D_LCK protection and injecting code into System Management Mode memory.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

The VAPIC TPR optimization can be disabled by preventing the kvmvapic option ROM from loading. When using libvirt, set the following in the guest's domain XML: ``` <features> <apic/> <hyperv> <vapic state='off'/> </hyperv> </features> ``` When using QEMU directly, pass `-global kvmvapic.rom=off` on the command line. This optimization is only used by 32-bit Windows guests for MMIO-based TPR register access. Linux guests, 64-bit Windows guests, and any guest using x2APIC or MSR-based TPR access are unaffected by disabling it.

Tracking

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Advisories

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History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat rhel Els
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:6
cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:7
Vendors & Products Redhat rhel Els
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:5
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Qemu
Qemu qemu
Redhat enterprise Linux For Nvidia 26
Redhat openshift Container Platform
Redhat openstack Platform
Vendors & Products Qemu
Qemu qemu
Redhat enterprise Linux For Nvidia 26
Redhat openshift Container Platform
Redhat openstack Platform
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in QEMU. The VAPIC setup hypercall in hw/i386/vapic.c does not validate that the writable RAM alias remains within the option ROM window. A privileged guest user on a Q35/KVM machine can position this alias over locked SMRAM, bypassing chipset D_LCK protection and injecting code into System Management Mode memory.
Title Qemu-kvm: vapic writable rom alias can escape the option-rom window and expose locked smram
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat enterprise Linux Nvidia
Redhat openshift
Redhat openstack
Weaknesses CWE-787
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux_nvidia:
cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4
cpe:/a:redhat:openstack:13
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat enterprise Linux Nvidia
Redhat openshift
Redhat openstack
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}