CVE-2026-72280 (GCVE-0-2026-72280)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-15 05:55 – Updated: 2026-08-17 05:42
VLAI
Title
KVM: arm64: nv: Drop bogus WARN for write to ZCR_EL2
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: nv: Drop bogus WARN for write to ZCR_EL2 It is entirely possible for a guest to write to the ZCR_EL2 sysreg alias while in a nested context, as it is expected if FEAT_NV2 is advertised to the L1 hypervisor. Get rid of the bogus WARN which, since the hyp vectors were installed at this point, has the effect of a hyp_panic...
Severity
7.1 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Linux Linux Affected: 0cfc85b8f5cf3b77463d61542191c75ba0cc3a5f , < 6561597dba97e3e8479a9919bda172cf43eb902c (git)
Affected: 0cfc85b8f5cf3b77463d61542191c75ba0cc3a5f , < 5000bcae71c869cba6674c326fec2d8ad659ae3a (git)
Affected: 0cfc85b8f5cf3b77463d61542191c75ba0cc3a5f , < 7deadbc5dab5b8e2316364603bc6281129c8461c (git)
Affected: 0cfc85b8f5cf3b77463d61542191c75ba0cc3a5f , < 9f1667098c6ae7ec81a9a56859cfdacb822aa0d0 (git)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Linux Linux Affected: 6.11
Unaffected: 0 , < 6.11 (semver)
Unaffected: 6.12.97 , ≤ 6.12.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.18.40 , ≤ 6.18.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.1.5 , ≤ 7.1.* (semver)
Unaffected: 7.2 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "arch/arm64/kvm/hyp/include/hyp/switch.h"
          ],
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              "version": "0",
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              "versionType": "semver"
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              "version": "7.1.5",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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              "operator": "OR"
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      "descriptions": [
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          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nKVM: arm64: nv: Drop bogus WARN for write to ZCR_EL2\n\nIt is entirely possible for a guest to write to the ZCR_EL2 sysreg alias\nwhile in a nested context, as it is expected if FEAT_NV2 is advertised\nto the L1 hypervisor.\n\nGet rid of the bogus WARN which, since the hyp vectors were installed at\nthis point, has the effect of a hyp_panic..."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
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            "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
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              "value": "AV:L - The flaw is reached when guest code in a nested KVM context executes an MSR/MRS to ZCR_EL2 that traps to EL2, traversing KVM_RUN \u2192 hyp fast-path kvm_hyp_handle_zcr_el2() \u2192 kvm_hyp_handle_fpsimd(); this requires local guest execution on an arm64 VHE KVM host, not remote network input.\nAC:L - On arm64 VHE hosts with nested virtualization (FEAT_NV2) and SVE enabled, a tenant guest in nested context (L1 non-hyp or L2) can deterministically issue the ZCR_EL2 access that hits the bogus WARN; the attacker controls the trap timing and FP/SVE lazy-switch preconditions without uncontrollable host races.\nPR:N - No host root or init-namespace capabilities are required\u2014exploitation needs only code execution inside an assigned KVM guest with nested virtualization and SVE enabled (typical nested-virt ARM cloud tenant), not privileged access on the physical host itself.\nUI:N - No victim user or administrator action is required beyond the attacker operating their own nested/SVE-enabled guest workload; triggering is fully automated via a single guest MSR to ZCR_EL2 that traps into the hypervisor fast path.\nS:C - A guest-triggered WARN in EL2 hypervisor code escalates to hyp_panic(), crashing the host kernel and denying all co-resident VMs\u2014crossing the guest-to-host KVM virtualization security boundary even though exploitation is denial-of-service rather than memory corruption.\nC:N - The failure mode is WARN_ON_ONCE \u2192 hyp_panic with no out-of-bounds access, use-after-free, or memory corruption; it is a deterministic hypervisor assertion panic without an information disclosure or memory-read primitive.\nI:N - No guest-controlled kernel memory write or control-flow hijack occurs; the bogus WARN aborts via hyp_panic before any exploitable state mutation beyond crashing the host, and the removed check was incorrectly rejecting a legitimate nested ZCR_EL2 write path.\nA:H - WARN_ON_ONCE in EL2 with hyp vectors installed invokes hyp_panic() and host panic(), immediately denying availability of the hypervisor and every VM on the affected arm64 KVM host; the attack is repeatable on each ZCR_EL2 trap while nested virt and SVE remain enabled."
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:42:15.995Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
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        },
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          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9f1667098c6ae7ec81a9a56859cfdacb822aa0d0"
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      "title": "KVM: arm64: nv: Drop bogus WARN for write to ZCR_EL2",
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    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-72280",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-15T05:55:04.969Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-09T03:40:39.916Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-17T05:42:15.995Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
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        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nKVM: arm64: nv: Drop bogus WARN for write to ZCR_EL2\n\nIt is entirely possible for a guest to write to the ZCR_EL2 sysreg alias\nwhile in a nested context, as it is expected if FEAT_NV2 is advertised\nto the L1 hypervisor.\n\nGet rid of the bogus WARN which, since the hyp vectors were installed at\nthis point, has the effect of a hyp_panic..."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-72280",
        "lastModified": "2026-08-17T06:18:30.593",
        "metrics": {
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                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "integrityImpact": "NONE",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
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        "vulnStatus": "Received"
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    "redhat_vex": {
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      "current_release_date": "2026-08-18T07:27:49+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72280",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72280",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-08-15T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_affected": "184",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "90",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: KVM: arm64: nv: Drop bogus WARN for write to ZCR_EL2",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-72280.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
    "suse_vex": {
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      "current_release_date": "2026-10-03T00:29:01Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2026-72280",
      "id": "CVE-2026-72280",
      "initial_release_date": "2026-09-01T13:31:00Z",
      "product_status:known_affected": "2",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "362",
      "product_status:recommended": "145",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2026-72280",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2026-72280.json",
      "version": "4"
    }
  }
}



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Sightings

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Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



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