Guest-to-host memory corruption via scaled descriptor offset
Published Apr 24, 2026 · Updated Apr 24, 2026
Memory corruption in arm64 KVM in Linux Kernel 6.19 through 6.19.10 allows guest OS users to corrupt host-side VM memory. The __kvm_at_swap_desc function casts hva to a u64 pointer before adding an untrusted nonzero byte offset, scaling it by eight and directing a compare-and-swap at the wrong S1 or S2 descriptor address. Reachability requires control of a nested-virtualization-capable guest, hardware Access Flag management, and a trapped arm64 AT instruction; the wrong-address write can corrupt adjacent VM or VMM memory and interrupt execution.
Summary
What happened
Memory corruption in arm64 KVM in Linux Kernel 6.19 through 6.19.10 allows guest OS users to corrupt host-side VM memory. The __kvm_at_swap_desc function casts hva to a u64 pointer before adding an untrusted nonzero byte offset, scaling it by eight and directing a compare-and-swap at the wrong S1 or S2 descriptor address. Reachability requires control of a nested-virtualization-capable guest, hardware Access Flag management, and a trapped arm64 AT instruction; the wrong-address write can corrupt adjacent VM or VMM memory and interrupt execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-31553
- Published
- Apr 24, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 24, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux Kernel
- Classifications
- T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 24, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 24, 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=6.19
- Affected versionversion=f6927b41d57390c597a126063e2e518911976878 <0496acc42fb51eee040b5170cec05cec41385540
- Affected versionversion=f6927b41d57390c597a126063e2e518911976878 <4307e05e568782fc92eff651b09ee5dee88a058d
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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