Host hard lockup via stale timer expiration
Published Jan 14, 2026 · Updated Jan 14, 2026
Denial of service in Linux Kernel KVM allows local users to hard-lock an Intel host after a suspended virtual machine resumes. advance_periodic_target_expiration adds one period to an already expired APIC target, producing a negative delta that forces fallback to hrtimers and repeated callbacks with IRQs disabled. The condition requires an Intel host using the VMX preemption timer and a periodic guest APIC timer after prolonged vCPU inactivity; the bounded result is a host hang.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in Linux Kernel KVM allows local users to hard-lock an Intel host after a suspended virtual machine resumes. advance_periodic_target_expiration adds one period to an already expired APIC target, producing a negative delta that forces fallback to hrtimers and repeated callbacks with IRQs disabled. The condition requires an Intel host using the VMX preemption timer and a periodic guest APIC timer after prolonged vCPU inactivity; the bounded result is a host hang.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-71104
- Published
- Jan 14, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 14, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 14, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=4.17
- Affected versionversion=421e1fadb0b0a648cc75afd5b3c826fa7daeaffc
- Affected versionversion=5a69b7b69beae9bb86e7e1b095685087976cba47
- Affected versionversion=d8f2f498d9ed0c5010bc1bbc1146f94c8bf9f8cc <18ab3fc8e880791aa9f7c000261320fc812b5465
- Affected versionversion=d8f2f498d9ed0c5010bc1bbc1146f94c8bf9f8cc <7b54ccef865e0aa62e4871d4ada2ba4b9dcb8bed
- Affected versionversion=d8f2f498d9ed0c5010bc1bbc1146f94c8bf9f8cc <807dbe8f3862fa7c164155857550ce94b36a11b9
- Affected versionversion=d8f2f498d9ed0c5010bc1bbc1146f94c8bf9f8cc <e23f46f1a971c73dad2fd63e1408696114ddebe2
- Affected versionversion=d8f2f498d9ed0c5010bc1bbc1146f94c8bf9f8cc <e746e51947053a02af2ea964593dc4887108d379
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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