Memory Leak in Linux Kernel KVM RISC-V

Publication date: 2026-05-28

Last updated on: 2026-06-11

Assigner: kernel.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: riscv: kvm: fix vector context allocation leak When the second kzalloc (host_context.vector.datap) fails in kvm_riscv_vcpu_alloc_vector_context, the first allocation (guest_context.vector.datap) is leaked. Free it before returning.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-05-28

Last Modified

2026-06-11

Generated

2026-07-08

AI Q&A

2026-05-28

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-06

NVD

CVE-2026-46171

EUVD

EUVD-2026-32798

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.19 (inc) to 7.0.7 (exc)
linux	linux_kernel	From 6.5 (inc) to 6.18.30 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-401	The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.

Attack-Flow Graph

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can lead to a memory leak in the Linux kernel when running KVM on RISC-V architectures. Over time, repeated failures in allocation could cause increased memory usage, potentially degrading system performance or stability. However, it does not directly lead to code execution or privilege escalation.

Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's RISC-V KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) implementation. Specifically, it involves a memory allocation leak in the function kvm_riscv_vcpu_alloc_vector_context. When the second memory allocation (kzalloc) for host_context.vector.datap fails, the first allocation for guest_context.vector.datap is not freed, causing a memory leak. The fix involves freeing the first allocation before returning when the second allocation fails.

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