CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-98720

Low risk· EPSS 6%
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.17%

6th percentile - higher than 6% of all known CVEs

Summary

In the Linux kernel's KVM nVMX, the vmcs02 MSR bitmap (msr_bitmap02) is not refreshed during nested VM-Enter when runtime eVMCS controls are modified. As a result, TPR remains in passthrough mode even when TPR virtualization is disabled, allowing L2 (or L1 by proxy) to read and write L0's TPR.

Risk Assessment

This breaks guest-hypervisor isolation — a guest can read and modify the host's TPR, potentially leading to privilege escalation or disruption of other virtual machines.

Recommendation

Update the Linux kernel to a version containing the fix that forces a refresh of the vmcs02 MSR bitmap when runtime eVMCS controls are modified.

Related vulnerabilities

Original NVD description (English source)

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.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS