CVE-2026-89960

Source
https://cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89960
Import Source
https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-89960.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/CVE-2026-89960
Downstream
Published
2026-09-16T10:32:42Z
Modified
2026-09-18T03:48:34Z
Severity
  • 8.8 (High) CVSS_V3 - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS Calculator
Summary
s390/vfio-ap: fix stale pqap_hook pointer on error in vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm()
Details

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

s390/vfio-ap: fix stale pqap_hook pointer on error in vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm()

In vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm(), kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook is set to &matrix_mdev->pqap_hook before the update locks are acquired and the mdev list is checked for a conflicting assignment. If another mdev is already attached to the same KVM instance, the function returns -EPERM without restoring the hook pointer, leaving kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook pointing at the failing matrix_mdev instead of the mdev that legitimately owns the KVM.

Since matrix_mdev->kvm is never set on this error path, vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() will not clean up the hook when matrix_mdev is later closed. If matrix_mdev is subsequently freed, any PQAP instruction executed by the guest will dereference the stale pointer through pqap_hook_rwsem, resulting in a use-after-free.

Since kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook is only set in the vfio_ap_mdev_set_kvm() function and is cleared in the vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() function, a check for 'kvm->arch.crypto.pqap_hook != NULL' is all that is needed to determine whether it belongs to another mdev. This will alleviate the need to iterate the matrix_dev->mdev_list list to see if the kvm object is assigned to another mdev.This was introduced in v3 to alleviate the need to take the mdevs_lock while iterating the list; however, this did not prevent a potential race condition.

The pqap_hook_rwsem(write) is now performed inside get_update_locks_for_kvm(), which is updated to acquire pqap_hook_rwsem(write) between kvm->lock and mdevs_lock. This ordering is consistent with the PQAP intercept path, which acquires pqap_hook_rwsem in read mode while srcu is held under vcpu->mutex, establishing the dependency: kvm->lock -> vcpu->mutex -> srcu -> pqap_hook_rwsem(read).

The pqap_hook_rwsem is now released inside the release_update_locks_for_kvm(), which is updated to release pqap_hook_rwsem(write) between mdevs_lock and kvm->lock.

Additionally, kvm_put_kvm() in vfio_ap_mdev_unset_kvm() is moved after release_update_locks_for_kvm(). Previously it was called while kvm->lock was held; if it were ever the last reference, kvm_destroy_vm() would run under kvm->lock, which would deadlock.

Database specific
{
    "cna_assigner": "Linux",
    "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89960.json"
}
References

Affected packages

Git / git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git

Affected ranges

Type
GIT
Repo
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
Events
Introduced
86956e70761b3292156d668e87126844334dd71b
Fixed
eb6cc898501a004c0fa8aab951351d9c959b91cc
Fixed
6a180adafc2a8a5fbe815985c71b2201e93ab5e1
Fixed
fc069d00a0dbef40042fd681554d48dcd5a1d524
Fixed
13bfc94eef389bd664ffc67b00184919902c938a
Fixed
4400270ec0348d05dc0439d8f0130853ce7f9e20

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-89960.json"

Linux / Kernel

Package

Name
Kernel

Affected ranges

Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
5.15.0
Fixed
6.6.157
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.7.0
Fixed
6.12.110
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.13.0
Fixed
6.18.51
Type
ECOSYSTEM
Events
Introduced
6.19.0
Fixed
7.2.5

Database specific

source
"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-89960.json"