HighCVE-2026-99082

    Linux Kernel: security vulnerability (CVE-2026-99082)

    Published Last modified Sources: CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, BSI

    What is affected, what to do

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Use active memslots for the per-vCPU MMIO cache KVM tags the per-vCPU MMIO cache with a memslot generation so that a memslot update invalidates cached MMIO information. Both the fill and validation paths use kvm_memslots(), which unconditionally selects address space 0, even when the vCPU is running in SMM and using address space 1. Commit 56f17dd3fbc4 ("kvm: x86: fix stale mmio cache bug") added the memslot generation to the cache key so that a memslot update could not leave a stale entry valid.

    Update Linux Kernel to version 5.10.273, Linux Kernel to version 5.15.224, Linux Kernel to version 6.1.191.

    Affected
    • Linux Kernel lt 4.2..5.10.273
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.11..5.15.224
    • Linux Kernel lt 5.16..6.1.191
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.2..6.6.160
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.7..6.12.114
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.13..6.18.58
    • Linux Kernel lt 6.19..7.2.12
    Fixed in
    • Linux Kernel 5.10.273
    • Linux Kernel 5.15.224
    • Linux Kernel 6.1.191
    • Linux Kernel 6.6.160
    • Linux Kernel 6.12.114
    • Linux Kernel 6.18.58
    • Linux Kernel 7.2.12
    • Linux Kernel 7.3

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    8.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v3

    8.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org, Msrc Update Guide, BSI

    0.2 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 4.7

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    74.18 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    8.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    8.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.2 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    4.7
    Low — this CVE sits in the lower 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Use active memslots for the per-vCPU MMIO cache KVM tags the per-vCPU MMIO cache with a memslot generation so that a memslot update invalidates cached MMIO information. Both the fill and validation paths use kvm_memslots(), which unconditionally selects address space 0, even when the vCPU is running in SMM and using address space 1. Commit 56f17dd3fbc4 ("kvm: x86: fix stale mmio cache bug") added the memslot generation to the cache key so that a memslot update could not leave a stale entry valid. When commit 699023e23965 ("KVM: x86: add SMM to the MMU role, support SMRAM address space") added the SMM address space, these helpers were not converted to use the active memslots. Consequently, an update to the SMM memslots can leave an entry from the old SMM address space apparently valid after the vCPU returns to the normal address space. A guest can then cause an access to valid RAM at the same GFN to be returned to userspace as KVM_EXIT_MMIO. Completing that exit through the VMM's RAM address space writes the backing page without going through KVM's write-tracking path. If the page backs a nested EPT table, KVM can continue using shadow translations derived from the old contents. The WARN_ON_ONCE() in kvm_mmu_write_protect_fault() catches this invalid cache and memslot combination. Use the vCPU's active memslots when caching and validating the entry. Memslot generations are unique across address spaces, so the generation also distinguishes the normal and SMM views. This matches the MMIO SPTE cache, which already uses kvm_vcpu_memslots(). On an unpatched current-mainline kernel, a regression test that fills the cache in SMM and updates only the SMM memslots fails the intended RAM write and triggers the kvm_mmu_write_protect_fault() warning. With this change, the same test completes the RAM write without a warning. The x86/smm_test, set_memory_region_test, and memslot_modification_stress_test selftests also pass.

    Source: cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), Microsoft Security Update Guide, BSI CSAF, BSI WID Portal

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    LinuxLinux
    • 6.7 – < 6.12.114
    • 6.19 – < 7.2.12
    • 5.11 – < 5.15.224
    • 5.16 – < 6.1.191
    • —
    • 6.13 – < 6.18.58
    • 4.2 – < 5.10.273
    • 6.2 – < 6.6.160
    • 6.12.114
    • 7.2.12
    • 5.15.224
    • 6.1.191
    • 7.3
    • 6.18.58
    • 5.10.273
    • 6.6.160

    Vendors and products

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedLinux

      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99082.json">CVE-2026-99082</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c77d33d85786d36e56ca1b580fb55347fd65b47
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/445e3369ac8cc1b18aedc8e8f977c68a0a326fa9
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/485a5286675b15b00ee850d90eaa178cc588445f

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    2. Record modifiedLinux

      CVSS V3.1: AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

    3. ReceivedLinux

      Description added or changed

      Show 7 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Use active memslots for the per-vCPU MMIO cache KVM tags the per-vCPU MMIO cache with a memslot generation so that a memslot update invalidates cached MMIO information. Both the fill and validation paths use kvm_memslots(), which unconditionally selects address space 0, even when the vCPU is running in SMM and using address space 1. Commit 56f17dd3fbc4 ("kvm: x86: fix stale mmio cache bug") added the memslot generation to the cache key so that a memslot update could not leave a stale entry valid. When commit 699023e23965 ("KVM: x86: add SMM to the MMU role, support SMRAM address space") added the SMM address space, these helpers were not converted to use the active memslots. Consequently, an update to the SMM memslots can leave an entry from the old SMM address space apparently valid after the vCPU returns to the normal address space. A guest can then cause an access to valid RAM at the same GFN to be returned to userspace as KVM_EXIT_MMIO. Completing that exit through the VMM's RAM address space writes the backing page without going through KVM's write-tracking path. If the page backs a nested EPT table, KVM can continue using shadow translations derived from the old contents. The WARN_ON_ONCE() in kvm_mmu_write_protect_fault() catches this invalid cache and memslot combination. Use the vCPU's active memslots when caching and validating the entry. Memslot generations are unique across address spaces, so the generation also distinguishes the normal and SMM views. This matches the MMIO SPTE cache, which already uses kvm_vcpu_memslots(). On an unpatched current-mainline kernel, a regression test that fills the cache in SMM and updates only the SMM memslots fails the intended RAM write and triggers the kvm_mmu_write_protect_fault() warning. With this change, the same test completes the RAM write without a warning. The x86/smm_test, set_memory_region_test, and memslot_modification_stress_test selftests also pass.
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/99xxx/CVE-2026-99082.json">CVE-2026-99082</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2566780c684c9c21241d409d790087c73070f312
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fd4e64f4bbc8c35ae8f0d2a1fb5b77a76d5b4fd
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a63f79d9da9468952396af73e1e53330845cf876
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b3e6212dea2e4328a841ceb37f377583176dc735
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e792a9ace39d2812a5b342a1987186c7bc653204

      Source identifier: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

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