Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5 KVM privileges management

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.
7.8	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. This affects an unknown function of the component KVM. This manipulation causes privileges management. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-98720. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.12.112/6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code of the component KVM. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: nVMX: Force MSR bitmap refresh if runtime eVMCS controls are modified Force a refresh of the vmcs02 MSR bitmap during nested VM-Enter if the runtime eVMCS controls (pin, primary, secondary, etc.) are being updated. If L1 isn't intercepting TPR writes, runs L2 with TPR virtualization, and then runs the same L2 with TPR virtualization disabled, KVM will fail to refresh msr_bitmap02 and leave TPR in passthrough mode even though TPR virtualization is disabled. I.e. failure to refresh the bitmap lets L2 (or L1 by proxy) read and write L0's TPR.

The advisory is shared at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-98720 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. Additional levels of successful authentication are required for exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/18/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1068 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 6.12.113, 6.18.56, 7.2.10 or 7.3-rc6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 2db11598b59f16ddb6420693f9a4ac4efc3d4789/f6189e26d0237e47e2f04f9cb1e43fd19a9b2f3a/1e497e3bdab6983deb68a1d26b488027deb4527f/2abb25273c82061dd4670690c81c319c03740bf6 is able to eliminate this problem. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 6.12.112
• 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
• 6.18.40
• 6.18.41
• 6.18.42
• 6.18.43
• 6.18.44
• 6.18.45
• 6.18.46
• 6.18.47
• 6.18.48
• 6.18.49
• 6.18.50
• 6.18.51
• 6.18.52
• 6.18.53
• 6.18.54
• 6.18.55
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.3
• 7.2.4
• 7.2.5
• 7.2.6
• 7.2.7
• 7.2.8
• 7.2.9
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4
• 7.3-rc5

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: 8.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 7.8

VulDB Base Score: 8.2
VulDB Temp Score: 7.8
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: Privileges management
CWE: CWE-269 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: No

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

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 6.12.113/6.18.56/7.2.10/7.3-rc6
Patch: 2db11598b59f16ddb6420693f9a4ac4efc3d4789/f6189e26d0237e47e2f04f9cb1e43fd19a9b2f3a/1e497e3bdab6983deb68a1d26b488027deb4527f/2abb25273c82061dd4670690c81c319c03740bf6

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/18/2026 +23 days Advisory disclosed
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/18/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-98720 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98720
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-421957

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 19:30
Changes: 10/18/2026 19:30 (58)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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