Linux Kernel up to 6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4 KVM kvm_nested_s2_unmap/kvm_nested_s2_wp null pointer dereference

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	$0-$5k	0.92

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4. It has been classified as very critical. Impacted is the function kvm_nested_s2_unmap/kvm_nested_s2_wp of the component KVM. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-98467. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as very critical was found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.54/7.2.8/7.3-rc4. Affected by this vulnerability is the function kvm_nested_s2_unmap/kvm_nested_s2_wp of the component KVM. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. 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: arm64: nv: Fix null ptr deref on nested wp/unmap, teardown race Commit 7270cc9157f4 ("KVM: arm64: nv: Handle VNCR_EL2 invalidation from MMU notifiers") introduced VNCR_EL2 invalidation in both kvm_nested_s2_unmap() and kvm_nested_s2_wp(). However at the point of this being performed concurrent stage 2 teardown of a nested guest can cause kvm->arch.mmu.pgt to be set to NULL. This happens in kvm_flush_shadow_all() -> kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all() -> kvm_free_stage2_pgd() and is performed under the kvm->mmu_lock. Commit ec14c272408a ("KVM: arm64: nv: Unmap/flush shadow stage 2 page tables") introduced the teardown of the entire nested MMU range, which then invokes stage2_apply_range() with resched=true: mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start() -> ... -> kvm_mmu_notifier_invalidate_range_start() -> kvm_mmu_unmap_gfn_range() -> kvm_unmap_gfn_range() -> kvm_nested_s2_unmap() -> kvm_stage2_unmap_range() -> __unmap_stage2_range() -> stage2_apply_range() This means that stage2_apply_range() can drop the kvm->mmu_lock and thus concurrent progress can be made in lockstep with kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all(). If kvm_arch_flush_shadow_all() advances ahead of stage2_apply_range() and completes its operation it guarantees a NULL pointer deref. Since kvm_free_stage2_pgd() is performed under the kvm->mmu_lock this will either be observed NULL or not and serialised against kvm_free_stage2_pgd(). Resolve the issue by abstracting the invalidation to a new function, kvm_invalidate_vncr_ipa_all(), and check that the pgt is non-NULL before dereferencing it.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-98467 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. 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 10/18/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.55, 7.2.9 or 7.3-rc5 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 970de111c087488e53cadf5480b94e0f695db985/3cefc1ab511fad6a0f708e7a4aee9f91346e9457/4c74e233cdedd11592775fae2a6243e67ca3f891 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

• 6.18.0
• 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
• 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
• 7.3-rc1
• 7.3-rc2
• 7.3-rc3
• 7.3-rc4

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: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
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 6.18.55/7.2.9/7.3-rc5
Patch: 970de111c087488e53cadf5480b94e0f695db985/3cefc1ab511fad6a0f708e7a4aee9f91346e9457/4c74e233cdedd11592775fae2a6243e67ca3f891

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-2026-98467 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-98467
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-422119

Entryinfo

Created: 10/18/2026 20:30
Changes: 10/18/2026 20:30 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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