Stale-memory access via lost nested-page retry
Published Oct 18, 2026 · Updated Oct 18, 2026
Stale mappings in Linux x86 KVM allow local users to access unpinned memory through nested virtualization after a page-mapping failure. In vcpu_enter_guest(), consuming KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES without restoring it on failure lets a subsequent KVM_RUN reuse old vmcs02 page addresses. Exposure requires nested virtualization and a userspace vCPU restart after failure; host memory reuse and host compromise were not demonstrated in the original report.
Summary
What happened
Stale mappings in Linux x86 KVM allow local users to access unpinned memory through nested virtualization after a page-mapping failure. In vcpu_enter_guest(), consuming KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES without restoring it on failure lets a subsequent KVM_RUN reuse old vmcs02 page addresses. Exposure requires nested virtualization and a userspace vCPU restart after failure; host memory reuse and host compromise were not demonstrated in the original report.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-98863
- Published
- Oct 18, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 18, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 18, 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=5.4
- Affected versionversion=671ddc700fd08b94967b1e2a937020e30c838609 <10180a277549339020b08000206092c07e0bff5a
- Affected versionversion=671ddc700fd08b94967b1e2a937020e30c838609 <525694a6021ec6c8f7ce1f38acdf2dd77698fec1
- Affected versionversion=671ddc700fd08b94967b1e2a937020e30c838609 <942192dbcd3a06695ef6b31cf10a41a21cf014d8
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
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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