In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: nSVM: Remove a user-triggerable WARN on nested_svm_load_cr3() succeeding
Drop the WARN in svm_set_nested_state() on nested_svm_load_cr3() failing
as it is trivially easy to trigger from userspace by modifying CPUID after
loading CR3. E.g. modifying the state restoration selftest like so:
--- tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/state_test.c
+++ tools/testing/selftests/kvm/x86/state_test.c
@@ -280,7 +280,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
/* Restore state in a new VM. */
vcpu = vm_recreate_with_one_vcpu(vm);
- vcpu_load_state(vcpu, state);
+
+ if (stage == 4) {
+ state->sregs.cr3 = BIT(44);
+ vcpu_load_state(vcpu, state);
+
+ vcpu_set_cpuid_property(vcpu, X86_PROPERTY_MAX_PHY_ADDR, 36);
+ __vcpu_nested_state_set(vcpu, &state->nested);
+ } else {
+ vcpu_load_state(vcpu, state);
+ }
/*
* Restore XSAVE state in a dummy vCPU, first without doing
generates:
WARNING: CPU: 30 PID: 938 at arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c:1877 svm_set_nested_state+0x34a/0x360 [kvm_amd]
Modules linked in: kvm_amd kvm irqbypass [last unloaded: kvm]
CPU: 30 UID: 1000 PID: 938 Comm: state_test Tainted: G W 6.18.0-rc7-58e10b63777d-next-vm
Tainted: [W]=WARN
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
RIP: 0010:svm_set_nested_state+0x34a/0x360 [kvm_amd]
Call Trace:
kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl+0xf33/0x1700 [kvm]
kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4e6/0x8f0 [kvm]
__x64_sys_ioctl+0x8f/0xd0
do_syscall_64+0x61/0xad0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
Simply delete the WARN instead of trying to prevent userspace from shoving
"illegal" state into CR3. For better or worse, KVM's ABI allows userspace
to set CPUID after SREGS, and vice versa, and KVM is very permissive when
it comes to guest CPUID. I.e. attempting to enforce the virtual CPU model
when setting CPUID could break userspace. Given that the WARN doesn't
provide any meaningful protection for KVM or benefit for userspace, simply
drop it even though the odds of breaking userspace are minuscule.
Opportunistically delete a spurious newline.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (5.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 5.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 5.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.1% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-05). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it