CVE-2026-72291

Guest-to-host compromise via page-table race

Published Aug 15, 2026 · Updated Aug 15, 2026

A race condition in KVM s390 in Linux 7.1 through 7.1.4 allows guest OS users to compromise the host via concurrent memory operations. try_get_locked_pte() obtains an intermediate page-table entry before deriving the next-level offset, allowing a PUD or PMD to be unmapped between those operations. Exploitation requires an s390 KVM guest and coordinated vCPU or thread activity; success exposes or corrupts host kernel memory or crashes the host.

CVSS severity9.3
Critical
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A race condition in KVM s390 in Linux 7.1 through 7.1.4 allows guest OS users to compromise the host via concurrent memory operations. try_get_locked_pte() obtains an intermediate page-table entry before deriving the next-level offset, allowing a PUD or PMD to be unmapped between those operations. Exploitation requires an s390 KVM guest and coordinated vCPU or thread activity; success exposes or corrupts host kernel memory or crashes the host.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72291
Published
Aug 15, 2026
Updated
Aug 15, 2026
Vendor
The Linux Kernel Organization
Product
Linux
Classifications
CWE-367, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 15, 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?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=7.1
  2. Affected versionversion=89fa757931dc0bcd64ef22b28d1d5ad00c5d02f4 <5670b7f927f8d98685f3f5873dbf9f8d7a5a63f3
  3. Affected versionversion=89fa757931dc0bcd64ef22b28d1d5ad00c5d02f4 <ce587046baacdeb774b7756ab29b3f594e429004

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

The Linux Kernel Organization · Linuxversion=7.1; version=89fa757931dc0bcd64ef22b28d1d5ad00c5d02f4 <5670b7f927f8d98685f3f5873dbf9f8d7a5a63f3; version=89fa757931dc0bcd64ef22b28d1d5ad00c5d02f4 <ce587046baacdeb774b7756ab29b3f594e429004

Published CVSS scores

5.8Amazon LinuxCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
9.3Linux CNACVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.5Red HatCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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