Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4/7.2-rc3 nVMX nested_vmx_vmexit memory leak

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.4	$0-$5k	1.13

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4/7.2-rc3. Affected by this vulnerability is the function nested_vmx_vmexit of the component nVMX. The manipulation leads to memory leak. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-68081. Local access is required to approach this attack. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4/7.2-rc3 and classified as very critical. This issue affects the function nested_vmx_vmexit of the component nVMX. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a memory leak vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-401. The product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, which slowly consumes remaining memory. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: nVMX: Put vmcs12 pages if nested VM-Enter fails due to invalid guest state Put all vmcs12 pages if KVM synthesizes a nested VM-Exit due to invalid guest while emulating VMLAUNCH or VMRESUME. The invalid guest state path doesn't use nested_vmx_vmexit() as that API is intended to be used if and only if L2 is active, and the open coded equivalent neglects to put the vmcs12 pages. Failure to put the vmcs12 pages leaks any pinned pages (and/or mappings) if L1 retries VMLAUNCH/VMRESUME. Note, the !from_vmenter scenario doesn't suffer the same problem, as vmx_get_nested_state_pages() only gets/pins/maps the vmcs12 pages if L2 is active, i.e. if a "full" VM-Exit is guaranteed before KVM will retry getting vmcs12 pages.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-68081 since 07/30/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. Attacking locally is a requirement. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/08/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 7996013b85687034d2e820cef94d6404192e3a3d/2c87a087c20632d68920272173b5d7c47f9bcf70/2f2312c422fd2695da772cecb30c69994b795964 is able to eliminate this problem.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.18.0
• 6.18.1
• 6.18.2
• 6.18.3
• 6.18.4
• 6.18.5
• 6.18.6
• 6.18.7
• 6.18.8
• 6.18.9
• 6.18.10
• 6.18.11
• 6.18.12
• 6.18.13
• 6.18.14
• 6.18.15
• 6.18.16
• 6.18.17
• 6.18.18
• 6.18.19
• 6.18.20
• 6.18.21
• 6.18.22
• 6.18.23
• 6.18.24
• 6.18.25
• 6.18.26
• 6.18.27
• 6.18.28
• 6.18.29
• 6.18.30
• 6.18.31
• 6.18.32
• 6.18.33
• 6.18.34
• 6.18.35
• 6.18.36
• 6.18.37
• 6.18.38
• 6.18.39
• 7.1.0
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.4
• 7.2-rc1
• 7.2-rc2
• 7.2-rc3

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 8.8
VulDB Temp Score: 8.4
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Memory leak
CWE: CWE-401 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.40/7.1.5/7.2-rc4
Patch: 7996013b85687034d2e820cef94d6404192e3a3d/2c87a087c20632d68920272173b5d7c47f9bcf70/2f2312c422fd2695da772cecb30c69994b795964

Timelineinfo

07/30/2026 CVE reserved
08/08/2026 +9 days Advisory disclosed
08/08/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/08/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-68081 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-68081
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-387167

Entryinfo

Created: 08/08/2026 11:46
Changes: 08/08/2026 11:46 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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