Host CPU livelock via synthetic timer overflow
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
Integer overflow in Linux KVM Hyper-V synthetic timers allows guest OS users or local userspace to cause a host CPU livelock. stimer_start() multiplies an attacker-controlled 100-nanosecond COUNT delta by 100 without overflow protection, then arms an hrtimer with the wrapped deadline in the past. A guest WRMSR or host KVM_SET_MSRS call can trigger repeated immediate timer rearming, preventing vCPU progress and starving RCU grace-period threads.
Summary
What happened
Integer overflow in Linux KVM Hyper-V synthetic timers allows guest OS users or local userspace to cause a host CPU livelock. stimer_start() multiplies an attacker-controlled 100-nanosecond COUNT delta by 100 without overflow protection, then arms an hrtimer with the wrapped deadline in the past. A guest WRMSR or host KVM_SET_MSRS call can trigger repeated immediate timer rearming, preventing vCPU progress and starving RCU grace-period threads.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-89927
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 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=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <0ca49fbd2883cd53d32d85b50feef17fa04d0fbf
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <3097582b73a8ed1cd6f6790fa78706f4a79b5a49
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <61954727ee08f026f5e1c9ee69e1b404a68f2f7a
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <6a8ba9213cce613455b1502ee0fd178656bf617b
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <8aa467fe757d8cb2278e98d7fbf44fc05eb0dbf8
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <8e19ded84336891646b31375720717635f0fdd90
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <a4665762388750e08df99baabe5fce2a21d1423e
- Affected versionversion=1f4b34f825e8cef6f493d06b46605384785b3d16 <bdb732ebee545b7e3bee7060efc754a8d99818b9
- Affected versionversion=4.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- syzbot C reproducer for KVM synthetic-timer RCU stallproof of concept · demonstrated
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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