CVE-2026-53345: KVM: Don't WARN if memory is dirtied without a vCPU when the VM is dying

Published Jul 1, 2026
·
Updated

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: Don't WARN if memory is dirtied without a vCPU when the VM is dying

When marking a page dirty, complain about not having a running/loaded vCPU if and only if the VM is still alive, i.e. its refcount is non-zero. This will allow fixing a memory leak for x86 SEV-ES guests without hitting what is effectively a false positive on the WARN.

For some SEV-ES VM-Exits, KVM keeps a writable mapping of a guest page across an exit to userspace, and typically unmaps the page on the next KVMRUN. But if userspace never calls KVMRUN after such an exit, then KVM needs to unmap the page when the vCPU is destroyed, which in turn triggers the WARN about not having a running vCPU.

Alternatively, SEV-ES could temporarily load the vCPU to suppress the WARN, as is done in nestedvmxfreevcpu() (but for completely unrelated reasons; suppressing WARN from nestedputvmcs12pages() is pure happenstance). But loading a vCPU during destruction is gross (ideally nVMX code would be cleaned up), risks complicating the SEV-ES code (KVM would need to ensure the temporarily load()+put() only runs when the vCPU isn't already loaded), and is ultimately pointless.

The motivation for the WARN is to guard against KVM dirtying guest memory without pushing the corresponding GFN to the active vCPU's dirty ring, e.g. to ensure userspace doesn't miss a dirty page. But for the VM's refcount to reach zero, there can't be any userspace mappings to the dirty ring, as mapping the dirty ring requires doing mmap() on the vCPU FD. I.e. if userspace had a valid mapping for the dirty ring, then the vCPU file and thus the owning VM would still be alive. And so since userspace can't possibly reach the dirty ring, whether or not KVM technically "misses" a push to the dirty ring is irrelevant.

Affected Software

12 affected components
Kernel.org Linux kernel
Microsoft azl3 kernel 6.6.143.1-1
Linux Linux kernel>=5.17<6.6.143
Linux Linux kernel>=6.7<6.12.94
Linux Linux kernel>=6.13<6.18.36
Linux Linux kernel>=6.19<7.0.13
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc1
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc2
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc3
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc4
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc5
Linux Linux kernel=7.1-rc6

Event History

Jul 1, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·01:32 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·01:32 PM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·02:16 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Jul 2, 2026
Data Sourced
via Microsoft·08:03 AM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-53345?

The severity of CVE-2026-53345 is rated at 9.

2

How do I fix CVE-2026-53345?

To fix CVE-2026-53345, update to the latest version of the Linux kernel that includes the patch.

3

What systems are affected by CVE-2026-53345?

CVE-2026-53345 affects systems running the vulnerable versions of the Linux kernel from kernel.org.

4

What are the implications of CVE-2026-53345?

CVE-2026-53345 can lead to issues when memory is dirtied without a running vCPU while the VM is dying, affecting VM stability.

5

When was CVE-2026-53345 published?

CVE-2026-53345 was published on July 1, 2026.

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