CVE-2026-72279: KVM: arm64: nv: Respect read-only PFN when mapping L1 VNCR

Published Aug 15, 2026
·
Updated

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

KVM: arm64: nv: Respect read-only PFN when mapping L1 VNCR

KVM currently maps the L1 VNCR into the host stage-1 by relying entirely on the permissions of the guest stage-1. At the same time, it is entirely possible that the backing PFN is read-only (e.g. RO memslot), meaning that the L1 VNCR should use at most a read-only mapping.

Cache the writability of the PFN in the VNCR TLB and use it to constrain the resulting fixmap permissions. Promote VNCR permission faults to an SEA in the case where the guest attempts to write to a read-only endpoint. Conveniently, this also plugs a page leak found by Sashiko [] resulting from the early return for a read-only PFN.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Linux Linux kernel (KVM on arm64)

Event History

Aug 15, 2026
CVE Published
via MITRE·05:55 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·05:55 AM
DescriptionSeverity
Data Sourced
via NVD·06:21 AM
DescriptionSeverity

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2026-72279?

CVE-2026-72279 has a risk score of 34.

2

How do I fix CVE-2026-72279?

To fix CVE-2026-72279, update the Linux kernel to the latest version that includes the patch for this vulnerability.

3

What systems are affected by CVE-2026-72279?

CVE-2026-72279 affects systems using the Linux kernel with KVM on arm64 architecture.

4

What is the impact of CVE-2026-72279?

The impact of CVE-2026-72279 is the potential breach of read-only memory permissions for virtualized environments.

5

When was CVE-2026-72279 published?

CVE-2026-72279 was published on August 15, 2026.

Contact

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