CVE-2026-97988 (GCVE-0-2026-97988)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-09-25 10:23 – Updated: 2026-10-15 10:11
VLAI
Title
vhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions When VIRTIO_F_ACCESS_PLATFORM changes, cached vring pointers and IOTLB metadata are interpreted in a different address space. Keeping them across the transition can leave stale ring mappings in use. Clearing d->iotlb before taking the VQ locks also lets a worker observe a transient NULL d->iotlb and fall back to d->umem while translating a descriptor. Add a common vhost_clear_device_iotlb() helper for vhost-net and vhost-vsock. Take all VQ mutexes in index order before dropping the device-wide IOTLB, invalidate each VQ's cached ring access and metadata, clear pending IOTLB messages, and free the old table after the handoff. This serializes the transition with workers and prevents mixed address space mappings. On the first direct-to-IOTLB transition, invalidate the cached vring addresses. When an existing device IOTLB is replaced, preserve the GIOVA ring addresses and reset only the metadata cache. After clearing ACCESS_PLATFORM, userspace must configure the vring addresses for the new address mode. vhost_vq_invalidate_access() clears desc, avail, and used together. Treat the VQ as invalidated only when all three are NULL, since a single GIOVA address may legitimately be zero.
Severity
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
Linux CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard D 53/100 over 7100 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: 6b1e6cc7855b09a0a9bfa1d9f30172ba366f161c , < 7f8ee0b8f632441aec456a7c147fb43f5c73542d (git)
Affected: 6b1e6cc7855b09a0a9bfa1d9f30172ba366f161c , < 4a454af8e56c1596ada1421ae5eba90c8896c7c7 (git)
Affected: 6b1e6cc7855b09a0a9bfa1d9f30172ba366f161c , < e4f4761879a230aa59e569102a6ab9851847d833 (git)
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Linux Linux Affected: 4.8
Unaffected: 0 , < 4.8 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.57 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2.7 , ≤ 7.2.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.3-rc3 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/vhost/net.c",
            "drivers/vhost/vhost.c",
            "drivers/vhost/vhost.h",
            "drivers/vhost/vsock.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "7f8ee0b8f632441aec456a7c147fb43f5c73542d",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "6b1e6cc7855b09a0a9bfa1d9f30172ba366f161c",
              "versionType": "git"
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              "status": "affected",
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              "versionType": "git"
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          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/vhost/net.c",
            "drivers/vhost/vhost.c",
            "drivers/vhost/vhost.h",
            "drivers/vhost/vsock.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "status": "affected",
              "version": "4.8"
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.18.57",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.2.7",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "7.3-rc3",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
            }
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      "cpeApplicability": [
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          "nodes": [
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                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
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                  "versionStartIncluding": "4.8",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
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                },
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              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
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      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nvhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions\n\nWhen VIRTIO_F_ACCESS_PLATFORM changes, cached vring pointers and IOTLB\nmetadata are interpreted in a different address space. Keeping them\nacross the transition can leave stale ring mappings in use.\n\nClearing d-\u003eiotlb before taking the VQ locks also lets a worker observe\na transient NULL d-\u003eiotlb and fall back to d-\u003eumem while translating a\ndescriptor.\n\nAdd a common vhost_clear_device_iotlb() helper for vhost-net and\nvhost-vsock. Take all VQ mutexes in index order before dropping the\ndevice-wide IOTLB, invalidate each VQ\u0027s cached ring access and metadata,\nclear pending IOTLB messages, and free the old table after the handoff.\nThis serializes the transition with workers and prevents mixed address\nspace mappings.\n\nOn the first direct-to-IOTLB transition, invalidate the cached vring\naddresses. When an existing device IOTLB is replaced, preserve the\nGIOVA ring addresses and reset only the metadata cache. After clearing\nACCESS_PLATFORM, userspace must configure the vring addresses for the\nnew address mode.\n\nvhost_vq_invalidate_access() clears desc, avail, and used together.\nTreat the VQ as invalidated only when all three are NULL, since a single\nGIOVA address may legitimately be zero."
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-15T10:11:56.733Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7f8ee0b8f632441aec456a7c147fb43f5c73542d"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4a454af8e56c1596ada1421ae5eba90c8896c7c7"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4f4761879a230aa59e569102a6ab9851847d833"
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      ],
      "title": "vhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions",
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  "cveMetadata": {
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-97988",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-25T10:23:21.998Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-25T10:18:58.209Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-15T10:11:56.733Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
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      "date": "2026-10-18",
      "epss": "0.00166",
      "percentile": "0.05451"
    },
    "microsoft_vex": {
      "current_release_date": "2026-09-28T00:53:08.000Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-97988",
      "id": "msrc_CVE-2026-97988",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-09-27T23:32:13.000Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "1",
      "source": "Microsoft CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "vhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions",
      "url": "https://msrc.microsoft.com/csaf/vex/2026/msrc_cve-2026-97988.json",
      "version": "2"
    },
    "nvd": {
      "cve": {
        "affected": [
          {
            "affectedData": [
              {
                "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
                "product": "Linux",
                "programFiles": [
                  "drivers/vhost/net.c",
                  "drivers/vhost/vhost.c",
                  "drivers/vhost/vhost.h",
                  "drivers/vhost/vsock.c"
                ],
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                ],
                "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
                "vendor": "Linux",
                "versions": [
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                    "versionType": "semver"
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            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67"
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        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nvhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions\n\nWhen VIRTIO_F_ACCESS_PLATFORM changes, cached vring pointers and IOTLB\nmetadata are interpreted in a different address space. Keeping them\nacross the transition can leave stale ring mappings in use.\n\nClearing d-\u003eiotlb before taking the VQ locks also lets a worker observe\na transient NULL d-\u003eiotlb and fall back to d-\u003eumem while translating a\ndescriptor.\n\nAdd a common vhost_clear_device_iotlb() helper for vhost-net and\nvhost-vsock. Take all VQ mutexes in index order before dropping the\ndevice-wide IOTLB, invalidate each VQ\u0027s cached ring access and metadata,\nclear pending IOTLB messages, and free the old table after the handoff.\nThis serializes the transition with workers and prevents mixed address\nspace mappings.\n\nOn the first direct-to-IOTLB transition, invalidate the cached vring\naddresses. When an existing device IOTLB is replaced, preserve the\nGIOVA ring addresses and reset only the metadata cache. After clearing\nACCESS_PLATFORM, userspace must configure the vring addresses for the\nnew address mode.\n\nvhost_vq_invalidate_access() clears desc, avail, and used together.\nTreat the VQ as invalidated only when all three are NULL, since a single\nGIOVA address may legitimately be zero."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-97988",
        "lastModified": "2026-10-15T11:18:09.457",
        "metrics": {},
        "published": "2026-09-25T11:17:26.903",
        "references": [
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            "source": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
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      "cve": "CVE-2026-97988",
      "id": "CVE-2026-97988",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-09-25T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "276",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: vhost: invalidate vring access on IOTLB transitions",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-97988.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
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      "aggregate_severity": "moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-10-09T16:57:57Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-97988",
      "id": "CVE-2026-97988",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-09-30T15:00:15Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "341",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "6",
      "product_status:recommended": "4",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2026-97988",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/2026/cve-2026-97988.json",
      "version": "4"
    }
  }
}



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