CVE-2026-42493

Host denial of service via unpreempted shadow operations

Published Jul 28, 2026 · Updated Jul 28, 2026

Denial of service in Xen x86 shadow paging allows unprivileged guest OS users to interrupt the entire host through long-running operations. Shadow paging performs operations that can run excessively long, while practical preemption safeguards are unavailable; Xen has not disclosed a narrower triggering operation. Exploitation requires an x86 Xen build with shadow paging enabled and affects host availability without reported data disclosure or modification.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability0.45%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Denial of service in Xen x86 shadow paging allows unprivileged guest OS users to interrupt the entire host through long-running operations. Shadow paging performs operations that can run excessively long, while practical preemption safeguards are unavailable; Xen has not disclosed a narrower triggering operation. Exploitation requires an x86 Xen build with shadow paging enabled and affects host availability without reported data disclosure or modification.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-42493
Published
Jul 28, 2026
Updated
Jul 28, 2026
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-400, T1499
Attack vector
Unavailable
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 28, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorUnavailable in this record.
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
6.9SUSECVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H
5.9SUSECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
VectorUnavailable
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-400Uncontrolled Resource Consumption
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo