Local privilege escalation via operation-cache corruption
Published May 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 27, 2026
Improper CPU cache isolation in AMD Zen 2 processors allows local users to escalate privileges by corrupting higher-privilege instructions. The shared operation cache fails to isolate instructions across privilege boundaries, allowing lower-privilege code to alter instructions later executed by a kernel or hypervisor. Exploitation requires local low-privilege execution and high attack complexity; successful use grants higher-privilege code execution, including guest-to-host escalation.
Summary
What happened
Improper CPU cache isolation in AMD Zen 2 processors allows local users to escalate privileges by corrupting higher-privilege instructions. The shared operation cache fails to isolate instructions across privilege boundaries, allowing lower-privilege code to alter instructions later executed by a kernel or hypervisor. Exploitation requires local low-privilege execution and high attack complexity; successful use grants higher-privilege code execution, including guest-to-host escalation.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-54518
- Published
- May 15, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 27, 2026
- Vendor
- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
- Product
- AMD Ryzen™ Threadripper™ PRO 3000 WX-Series Processors
- Classifications
- CWE-1189, CWE-1220, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 27, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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