Linux Kernel up to 6.18.58/7.2.12 VMBus vmbus_initiate_unload state issue

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-$25k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as very critical has been discovered in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.58/7.2.12. The impacted element is the function vmbus_initiate_unload of the component VMBus. Executing a manipulation can lead to state issue. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-99216. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 6.18.58/7.2.12 and classified as very critical. This vulnerability affects the function vmbus_initiate_unload of the component VMBus. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a state issue vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-371. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: Drivers: hv: Don't reset VMBus connection state on error/exit paths In two places, current code forces vmbus_connection.conn_state to DISCONNECTED prior to calling vmbus_disconnect(). But vmbus_disconnect() calls vmbus_initiate_unload(), which unloads the VMBus connection only if the conn_state is CONNECTED. Consequently, the connection remains and the Hyper-V host might continue to send messages or post VMBus interrupts. The problem was introduced in commit 74347a99e73ae ("x86/Hyper-V: Unload vmbus channel in hv panic callback"), in that vmbus_initiate_unload() started checking the current connection state before doing the unload. This commit removed some occurrences where conn_state was forced to DISCONNECTED, but these two remained, apparently due to an oversight at the time. Fix this by not forcing conn_state to DISCONNECTED during VMBus exit, or if a failure occurs when establishing the connection in the first place. Whatever value conn_state has at the time is then read by vmbus_initiate_unload() to determine if there is a connection to be unloaded.

The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-99216 since 09/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/28/2026).

Upgrading to version 6.18.59 or 7.2.13 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f47ce27af80b87cc684d5c12b65506af498ac7e5/3195546a377c2d8d176d837e8baad5ce15d11195/ec31dc39e835ccde0930daccece8c492d28282fc 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
• 6.18.55
• 6.18.56
• 6.18.57
• 6.18.58
• 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
• 7.2.10
• 7.2.11
• 7.2.12

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: 10.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 9.5

VulDB Base Score: 10.0
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
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: State issue
CWE: CWE-371
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 6.18.59/7.2.13
Patch: f47ce27af80b87cc684d5c12b65506af498ac7e5/3195546a377c2d8d176d837e8baad5ce15d11195/ec31dc39e835ccde0930daccece8c492d28282fc

Timelineinfo

09/25/2026 CVE reserved
10/28/2026 +33 days Advisory disclosed
10/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/28/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-99216 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-99216
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-427918

Entryinfo

Created: 10/28/2026 12:49
Changes: 10/28/2026 12:49 (59)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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Discussion

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