CVE-2026-86845

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DPDK vhost-crypto Use-After-Free in Host Backend

Publication date: 2026-10-14

Last updated on: 2026-10-15

Assigner: redhat-SADP

Description

A flaw was found in DPDK lib/vhost vhost-crypto. Session cleanup can leave a stale cached session pointer, and the data path does not check the session type before attaching it, leading to use-after-free or type confusion in the host vhost-crypto backend.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-10-14

Last Modified

2026-10-15

Generated

2026-10-19

AI Q&A

2026-10-15

EPSS Evaluated

2026-10-18

NVD

CVE-2026-86845

EUVD

EUVD-2026-101509

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
Red	Hat	Fast Datapath for RHEL 10 *
Red	Hat	Fast Datapath for RHEL 8 *
Red	Hat	Fast Datapath for RHEL 9 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 *
Red	Hat	Red Hat OpenStack Platform 13 (Queens) *

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-825	The product dereferences a pointer that contains a location for memory that was previously valid, but is no longer valid.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is a use-after-free and type confusion flaw in DPDK's vhost-crypto component. When a session is closed, a stale cached pointer remains, and the data path does not check the session type before attaching it. This can lead to invalid memory access or incorrect session handling in the host vhost-crypto backend.

Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires checking if DPDK's vhost-crypto component is enabled and if stale session pointers exist. Inspect running DPDK processes and vhost-crypto configurations. Look for crashes or memory corruption in logs when vhost-crypto sessions are used.

Impact Analysis

An attacker with local access and low privileges could exploit this to cause crashes or system instability, potentially leading to denial-of-service. In rare cases, it might allow unauthorized code execution or memory read if the expired pointer is misused.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily impacts system availability and stability due to potential crashes or instability from use-after-free or type confusion in the vhost-crypto backend. It does not directly expose or leak data, but denial-of-service conditions could disrupt services handling sensitive data. Compliance impact depends on whether the affected systems process regulated data (e.g., personal health or financial information). Downtime or instability may violate availability requirements in standards like HIPAA or GDPR, which mandate robust security measures to ensure data accessibility and integrity.

Mitigation Strategies

Disable vhost-crypto by not attaching virtio-crypto vhost-user backends to untrusted guests. Update DPDK to a patched version if available. Monitor for crashes or memory corruption in vhost-crypto related processes.

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