System instability via stale virtqueue pointer
Published Aug 22, 2026 · Updated Aug 25, 2026
Missing synchronization in the Linux virtio-vsock transport allows local users to destabilize the system during device suspend and restore. The RX, TX, and event workers read a virtqueue pointer before taking its mutex and checking its run flag, allowing a delayed worker to retain a deleted queue while observing the replacement queue as running. The race requires a worker to span device freeze and restore; the stale pointer can cause system instability or denial of service.
Summary
What happened
Missing synchronization in the Linux virtio-vsock transport allows local users to destabilize the system during device suspend and restore. The RX, TX, and event workers read a virtqueue pointer before taking its mutex and checking its run flag, allowing a delayed worker to retain a deleted queue while observing the replacement queue as running. The race requires a worker to span device freeze and restore; the stale pointer can cause system instability or denial of service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-74614
- Published
- Aug 22, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-820, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 22, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 25, 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.
- Affected versionversion=5.15.138 <5.15.216
- Affected versionversion=5.19
- Affected versionversion=762c251c7f5c4ee5bef71460c6e822ed293fd69f <941329ce14c5f481223a10d1d4c8b57ea7f3048a
- Affected versionversion=bd50c5dc182b0a52599f87b429f9a5a9cbfc9b1c <1cecb4202afdbeddcf29d59baf596ac6ab753f7f
- Affected versionversion=bd50c5dc182b0a52599f87b429f9a5a9cbfc9b1c <29dd10583bf9d2744cd84b862e4257c0a5699570
- Affected versionversion=bd50c5dc182b0a52599f87b429f9a5a9cbfc9b1c <a1fb0c5b8a7c2753758aeced40971f99449dde0c
- Affected versionversion=bd50c5dc182b0a52599f87b429f9a5a9cbfc9b1c <bd43a7ec668be428265b3209eb43647aedcf720a
- Affected versionversion=bd50c5dc182b0a52599f87b429f9a5a9cbfc9b1c <eae099c764c7ebdb842eb1f638913e310bdd6513
- Affected versionversion=bd50c5dc182b0a52599f87b429f9a5a9cbfc9b1c <ebac8f6b1ef0e9278afe204b8692a7479988dace
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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