CVE-2026-72281
Received Received - Intake

KVM: arm64 Protected Guest Fault Memory Leak

Publication date: 2026-08-15

Last updated on: 2026-08-15

Assigner: kernel.org

Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: account pKVM reclaim against the VM mm Protected guest faults charge long term pins to the VM's mm. Teardown can run later from file release, where current->mm may be unrelated. Drop the charge from kvm->mm instead.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-15
Last Modified
2026-08-15
Generated
2026-08-15
AI Q&A
2026-08-15
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-72281
EUVD
EUVD-2026-59180

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
linux linux_kernel *

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Exploitability

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CWE ID Description
CWE-UNKNOWN

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability in the Linux kernel involves Protected KVM (pKVM) on arm64 systems. When a protected guest faults occur, long-term memory pins are charged to the VM's memory management (mm). However, teardown may happen later during file release, where the current process's mm may not be related to the VM. The fix involves charging these pins to kvm->mm instead.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could lead to memory management issues in systems using pKVM on arm64. It may cause incorrect memory accounting, potential crashes, or instability during VM teardown or file release operations. Systems relying on pKVM for isolation may experience reduced reliability.

Mitigation Strategies

Update the Linux kernel to the latest patched version to resolve this vulnerability.

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