CVE-2026-53359KVM: x86: Fix shadow paging use-after-free due to unexpected role
- 8.8HighCVSS base score
- 1.4%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 28% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Fix shadow paging use-after-free due to unexpected role Commit 0cb2af2ea66ad ("KVM: x86: Fix shadow paging use-after-free due to unexpected GFN") fixed a shadow paging mismatch between stored and computed GFNs; the bug could be triggered by changing a PDE mapping from outside the guest, and then deleting a memslot. The rmap_remove() call would miss entries created after the PDE change because the GFN of the leaf SPTE does not match the GFN of the struct kvm_mmu_page. A similar hole however remains if the modified PDE points to a non-leaf page. In this case the gfn can be made to match, but the role does not match: the original large 2MB page creates a kvm_mmu_page with direct=1, while the new 4KB needs a kvm_mmu_page with direct=0. However, kvm_mmu_get_child_sp() does not compare the role, and therefore reuses the page. The next step is installing a leaf (4KB) SPTE on the new path which records an rmap entry under the gfn resolved by the walk. But when that child is zapped its parent kvm_mmu_page has direct=1 and kvm_mmu_page_get_gfn() computes the gfn for the 4KB page as sp->gfn + index instead of using sp->shadowed_translation[] (or sp->gfns[] in older kernels). It therefore fails to remove the recorded entry. When the memslot is dropped the shadow page is freed but the rmap entry survives, as in the scenario that was already fixed. Code that later walks that gfn (dirty logging, MMU notifier invalidation, and so on) dereferences an sptep that lies in the freed page, causing the use-after-free.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
Timeline
ID reserved
By Linux
- 25 days later
· 25 days later
Published
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinuxCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.4% · top 28% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.8.
Affected products
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < 0b5e8ead71e683bcf6232db16234cf7e6d553a23
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < b1337aae5e194324e4810d561764e7793f8b3864
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < 9291654d69e08542de37755cebe4d5b02c3170d1
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < 2ad3afa40ac6aa340dada122f9abfa46c0a6eb35
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < 5e470998a23e4c3d89ed24e8172cb22747e61efa
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < 1ae7d5a6db6c190ce183e3098ca0e0846e14d462
- affected 2032a93d66fa282ba0f2ea9152eeff9511fa9a96 – < 81ccda30b4e83d8f5cc4fd50503c44e3a33abfeb
- affected 2.6.36
- unaffected < 2.6.36
- unaffected 5.15.222 – ≤ 5.15.*
- unaffected 6.1.177 – ≤ 6.1.*
- unaffected 6.6.144 – ≤ 6.6.*
- unaffected 6.12.95 – ≤ 6.12.*
- unaffected 6.18.38 – ≤ 6.18.*
- unaffected 7.1.3 – ≤ 7.1.*
- unaffected 7.2 – ≤ *
References
References9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0b5e8ead71e683bcf6232db16234cf7e6d553a23 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1337aae5e194324e4810d561764e7793f8b3864 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9291654d69e08542de37755cebe4d5b02c3170d1 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2ad3afa40ac6aa340dada122f9abfa46c0a6eb35 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5e470998a23e4c3d89ed24e8172cb22747e61efa (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1ae7d5a6db6c190ce183e3098ca0e0846e14d462 (opens in a new tab)
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/81ccda30b4e83d8f5cc4fd50503c44e3a33abfeb (opens in a new tab)
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/07/06/7 (opens in a new tab)
- https://github.com/V4bel/Januscape/blob/main/assets/write-up.md (opens in a new tab)exploit
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-41666 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-53359)Record last updated .