Stale L2 translations via missed TLB flush
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
Improper TLB invalidation in Linux KVM allows guest OS users to retain stale L2 translations after a failed nested VM entry. The nVMX transition path updates last_vpid when L1 changes L2's VPID, but a failed entry does not service the queued local TLB flush, so a later successful entry can reuse cached translations. The issue requires Intel nested VMX with VPID-related flush state, and upstream material does not state whether stale translations permit disclosure, modification, or interruption.
Summary
What happened
Improper TLB invalidation in Linux KVM allows guest OS users to retain stale L2 translations after a failed nested VM entry. The nVMX transition path updates last_vpid when L1 changes L2's VPID, but a failed entry does not service the queued local TLB flush, so a later successful entry can reuse cached translations. The issue requires Intel nested VMX with VPID-related flush state, and upstream material does not state whether stale translations permit disclosure, modification, or interruption.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-89930
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
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=4.4
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <05a0b701d1089fb57beeb8982f23c3bbafe0fa8b
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <1025b938dc439b75c720a568a855a13eeb245686
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <312cdb6d8940827dea63a7a52fb714a5049f06d1
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <62c3ee4c9f0e2efef5157358b3549e50ede96d73
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <c0c66cd575e31218da6a7d104c6ef80b0830b60c
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <c43563e7518e65ec6ccaa6a65f84c5af5ca5d379
- Affected versionversion=5c614b3583e7b6dab0c86356fa36c2bcbb8322a0 <f74fccdf4f7fb0780cd84944108d35f3d9dc46a7
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
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
- Nested TLB flush selftest reproducerproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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