Linux Kernel up to 6.18.50/7.2.4 VGIC-v3 vgic_v3_save_pending_tables 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.
9.5$5k-$25k0.43-

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as very critical has been detected in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.50/7.2.4. This affects the function vgic_v3_save_pending_tables of the component VGIC-v3. The manipulation leads to use after free. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-89913. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.50/7.2.4 and classified as very critical. This issue affects the function vgic_v3_save_pending_tables of the component VGIC-v3. 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: arm64: vgic-v3: take an LPI reference in vgic_v3_save_pending_tables vgic_v3_save_pending_tables() iterates dist->lpi_xa using xa_for_each() and dereferences the returned struct vgic_irq in the loop body without holding a reference on the LPI. The xarray iterator only provides temporary RCU coverage while looking up the current entry. That is not sufficient for this loop body, which reads fields from struct vgic_irq and performs guest memory accesses before the iteration completes. A concurrent path can trigger this race: the irqfd cached injection path (vgic_its_inject_cached_translation) obtains a transient LPI reference via vgic_its_check_cache() without holding kvm->lock, vcpu->mutex, config_lock, or its_lock. If guest ITS DISCARD then drops the cache and ITE references under its_lock, the transient inject reference may become the final one. When vgic_put_irq() drops it, the LPI is erased from lpi_xa and freed via kfree_rcu(). Meanwhile, vgic_v3_save_pending_tables() may still hold a stale pointer obtained from the xarray iterator and dereference it after the RCU grace period completes. Fix this by re-fetching each iterated LPI via vgic_get_irq(), which takes a stable reference, and dropping it with vgic_put_irq() on all paths. This matches the pattern already used by other lpi_xa iterators in the vgic ITS code.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-89913 since 09/11/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/16/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.51, 7.2.5 or 7.3-rc1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 7631f95297560157d3a9283cb999e3be00103348/d3a2d20b7248ea67465af1cf79c79f90ff70926c/f5b8f203bfc07a5a257dff859e66d2c500f9f509 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
💳💳💳💳💳💳
VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
UnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

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-DayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock
TodayUnlockUnlockUnlockUnlock

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: Kernel 6.18.51/7.2.5/7.3-rc1
Patch: 7631f95297560157d3a9283cb999e3be00103348/d3a2d20b7248ea67465af1cf79c79f90ff70926c/f5b8f203bfc07a5a257dff859e66d2c500f9f509

Timelineinfo

09/11/2026 CVE reserved
09/16/2026 +5 days Advisory disclosed
09/16/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
09/16/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-89913 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-89913
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-405743

Entryinfo

Created: 09/16/2026 14:27
Changes: 09/16/2026 14:27 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Discussion

No comments yet. Languages: en.

Please log in to comment.

◂ PreviousOverviewNext ▸

Do you need the next level of professionalism?

Upgrade your account now!