UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23401
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86/mmu: Drop/zap existing present SPTE even when creating an MMIO SPTE When installing an emulated MMIO SPTE, do so *after* dropping/zapping the existing SPTE (if it's shadow-present). While commit a54aa15c6bda3 was right about it being impossible to convert a shadow-present SPTE to an MMIO SPTE due to a _guest_ write, it failed to account for writes to guest memory that are outside the scope of KVM. E.g. if host userspace modifies a shadowed gPTE to switch from a memslot to emulted MMIO and then the guest hits a relevant page fault, KVM will install the MMIO SPTE without first zapping the shadow-present SPTE. ------------[ cut here ]------------ is_shadow_present_pte(*sptep) WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c:484 at mark_mmio_spte+0xb2/0xc0 [kvm], CPU#0: vmx_ept_stale_r/4292 Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 4292 Comm: vmx_ept_stale_r Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2-eafebd2d2ab0-sink-vm #319 PREEMPT Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:mark_mmio_spte+0xb2/0xc0 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> mmu_set_spte+0x237/0x440 [kvm] ept_page_fault+0x535/0x7f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0xee/0x1f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8d/0x620 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x18c/0x5a0 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xc55/0x1c20 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2d5/0x980 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0xb5/0x730 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 RIP: 0033:0x47fa3f </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
02 / AFFECTED SOFTWARE
Affected packages
24 explicit affected versions
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41 explicit affected versions
40 explicit affected versions
8 explicit affected versions
89 explicit affected versions
52 explicit affected versions
33 explicit affected versions
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35 explicit affected versions
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43 explicit affected versions
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36 explicit affected versions
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16 explicit affected versions
3 explicit affected versions
13 explicit affected versions
26 explicit affected versions
45 explicit affected versions
37 explicit affected versions
50 explicit affected versions
14 explicit affected versions
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90 explicit affected versions
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88 explicit affected versions
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78 explicit affected versions
13 explicit affected versions
43 explicit affected versions
16 explicit affected versions
10 explicit affected versions
8 explicit affected versions
45 explicit affected versions
14 explicit affected versions
4 explicit affected versions
78 explicit affected versions
14 explicit affected versions
11 explicit affected versions
1 explicit affected versions
19 explicit affected versions
39 explicit affected versions
77 explicit affected versions
03 / CONNECTIONS
Connected vulnerabilities
04 / EVIDENCE
Source records
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86/mmu: Drop/zap existing present SPTE even when creating an MMIO SPTE When installing an emulated MMIO SPTE, do so *after* dropping/zapping the existing SPTE (if it's shadow-present). While commit a54aa15c6bda3 was right about it being impossible to convert a shadow-present SPTE to an MMIO SPTE due to a _guest_ write, it failed to account for writes to guest memory that are outside the scope of KVM. E.g. if host userspace modifies a shadowed gPTE to switch from a memslot to emulted MMIO and then the guest hits a relevant page fault, KVM will install the MMIO SPTE without first zapping the shadow-present SPTE. ------------[ cut here ]------------ is_shadow_present_pte(*sptep) WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c:484 at mark_mmio_spte+0xb2/0xc0 [kvm], CPU#0: vmx_ept_stale_r/4292 Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 4292 Comm: vmx_ept_stale_r Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2-eafebd2d2ab0-sink-vm #319 PREEMPT Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:mark_mmio_spte+0xb2/0xc0 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> mmu_set_spte+0x237/0x440 [kvm] ept_page_fault+0x535/0x7f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0xee/0x1f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8d/0x620 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x18c/0x5a0 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xc55/0x1c20 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2d5/0x980 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0xb5/0x730 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 RIP: 0033:0x47fa3f </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
05 / REFERENCES
Further evidence
- https://git.kernel.org/linus/aad885e774966e97b675dfe928da164214a71605
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/aad885e774966e97b675dfe928da164214a71605
- https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23401
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8567-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8574-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8574-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8574-3
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8575-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8575-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8575-3
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8576-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8576-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8595-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8595-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8595-3
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8596-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8597-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8606-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8607-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8608-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8609-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8610-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8619-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8620-1
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8620-2
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8620-3
- https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8620-4
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23401