Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4/7.2-rc3 KVM use after free

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.
8.7	$5k-$25k	1.42+

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as very critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.39/7.1.4/7.2-rc3. The impacted element is an unknown function of the component KVM. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-72283. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

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 some unknown functionality of the component KVM. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Nullify irqfd->producer if updating IRTE for bypass fails Nullify irqfd->producer if updating the IRTE for bypass fails, as leaving a dangling pointer will result in a use-after-free if the irqfd is reachable through KVM's routing, but the producer is freed separately. E.g. for VFIO PCI, the producer is embedded in struct "vfio_pci_irq_ctx" and freed when the vector is disabled, which can happen independent of routing updates. [sean: drop PPC change, massage changelog]

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-72283 since 08/09/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/15/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.40, 7.1.5 or 7.2-rc4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d1379888cc4230bac647ec24ab83306afbd03e88/d5560b6569cd05ba72c6b33427fbabc6ec46b8cf/ed446e8aa894883c08892cfee69782fdf8f6c3ca 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: 9.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.7

VulDB Base Score: 9.1
VulDB Temp Score: 8.7
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: Use after free
CWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

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: d1379888cc4230bac647ec24ab83306afbd03e88/d5560b6569cd05ba72c6b33427fbabc6ec46b8cf/ed446e8aa894883c08892cfee69782fdf8f6c3ca

Timelineinfo

08/09/2026 CVE reserved
08/15/2026 +6 days Advisory disclosed
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
08/15/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-72283 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-72283
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-390749

Entryinfo

Created: 08/15/2026 14:43
Changes: 08/15/2026 14:43 (58)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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