Guest-to-host memory read and write via sector underflow
Published Sep 25, 2026 · Updated Sep 25, 2026
Out-of-bounds access in the Linux vdpa_sim_blk driver allows guest OS users to read or overwrite host memory via crafted block requests. vdpasim_blk_check_range() logs an out-of-range start but continues, allowing an unsigned capacity subtraction to underflow before IN, OUT, and WRITE_ZEROES use blk->buffer + offset. Exploitation requires access to a configured vDPA simulator block device; reads can disclose adjacent host memory, while writes can corrupt it and interrupt the host.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds access in the Linux vdpa_sim_blk driver allows guest OS users to read or overwrite host memory via crafted block requests. vdpasim_blk_check_range() logs an out-of-range start but continues, allowing an unsigned capacity subtraction to underflow before IN, OUT, and WRITE_ZEROES use blk->buffer + offset. Exploitation requires access to a configured vDPA simulator block device; reads can disclose adjacent host memory, while writes can corrupt it and interrupt the host.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-97991
- Published
- Sep 25, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 25, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 25, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 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=5.13
- Affected versionversion=7d189f617f83f780915b737896a696ff605bd19f <0a8693f00c408d85f086ad85d29e7030bf1e2055
- Affected versionversion=7d189f617f83f780915b737896a696ff605bd19f <14acb0d44b7d90a077beb7b92b444b90bafda9d9
- Affected versionversion=7d189f617f83f780915b737896a696ff605bd19f <a8a1413a2cfdbedc896249f461d6d92efbbfe21f
- Affected versionversion=7d189f617f83f780915b737896a696ff605bd19f <d6dac17e20fd2abd0eb8c09d69fccf7426e12bcf
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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