CVE-2026-68081

Host-memory exhaustion via unreleased nested VM pages

Published Aug 8, 2026 · Updated Aug 8, 2026

Resource leak in Linux KVM allows guest OS users to exhaust host memory through repeated invalid nested VM entries. In nested_vmx_enter_non_root_mode(), the invalid-guest-state exit path omits nested_put_vmcs12_pages(), retaining pinned vmcs12 pages and mappings. An L1 guest must execute repeated VMLAUNCH or VMRESUME attempts with invalid L2 state; sustained retries consume host memory and can interrupt service.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Resource leak in Linux KVM allows guest OS users to exhaust host memory through repeated invalid nested VM entries. In nested_vmx_enter_non_root_mode(), the invalid-guest-state exit path omits nested_put_vmcs12_pages(), retaining pinned vmcs12 pages and mappings. An L1 guest must execute repeated VMLAUNCH or VMRESUME attempts with invalid L2 state; sustained retries consume host memory and can interrupt service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-68081
Published
Aug 8, 2026
Updated
Aug 8, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 8, 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?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.2
  2. Affected versionversion=96c66e87deeeb3cc78a3b82a1de8e365eec206c1 <2c87a087c20632d68920272173b5d7c47f9bcf70
  3. Affected versionversion=96c66e87deeeb3cc78a3b82a1de8e365eec206c1 <2f2312c422fd2695da772cecb30c69994b795964
  4. Affected versionversion=96c66e87deeeb3cc78a3b82a1de8e365eec206c1 <7996013b85687034d2e820cef94d6404192e3a3d

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=5.2; version=96c66e87deeeb3cc78a3b82a1de8e365eec206c1 <2c87a087c20632d68920272173b5d7c47f9bcf70; version=96c66e87deeeb3cc78a3b82a1de8e365eec206c1 <2f2312c422fd2695da772cecb30c69994b795964; version=96c66e87deeeb3cc78a3b82a1de8e365eec206c1 <7996013b85687034d2e820cef94d6404192e3a3d

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

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

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Your stack

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