CVE Intelligence
High

CVE-2025-40026 — KVM: x86: Don't (re)check L1 intercepts when completing userspace I/O

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Don't (re)check L1 intercepts when completing userspace I/O When completing emulation of instruction that generated a userspace exit for I/O, don't recheck L1 intercepts as KVM has already finished that phase of instruction execution, i.e. has already committed to allowing L2 to perform I/O. If L1 (or host userspace) modifies the I/O permission bitmaps during the exit to userspace, KVM will treat the access as being intercepted despite already having emulated the I/O access. Pivot on EMULTYPE_NO_DECODE to detect that KVM is completing emulation. Of the three users of EMULTYPE_NO_DECODE, only complete_emulated_io() (the intended "recipient") can reach the code in question. gp_interception()'s use is mutually exclusive with is_guest_mode(), and complete_emulated_insn_gp() unconditionally pairs EMULTYPE_NO_DECODE with EMULTYPE_SKIP. The bad behavior was detected by a syzkaller program that toggles port I/O interception during the userspace I/O exit, ultimately resulting in a WARN on vcpu->arch.pio.count being non-zero due to KVM no completing emulation of the I/O instruction. WARNING: CPU: 23 PID: 1083 at arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:8039 emulator_pio_in_out+0x154/0x170 [kvm] Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 23 UID: 1000 PID: 1083 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.16.0-rc5-c1610d2d66b1-next-vm #74 NONE Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:emulator_pio_in_out+0x154/0x170 [kvm] PKRU: 55555554 Call Trace: <TASK> kvm_fast_pio+0xd6/0x1d0 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x149/0x610 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xda8/0x1ac0 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x244/0x8c0 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0x5d/0xc60 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 </TASK>

Published Oct 28, 2025 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: Linux

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.17%
ahead of 6% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Linux
Linux
CVSS base
7.9
High · 3 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Linux Linux).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Linux Linux ≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < a908eca437789589dd4624da428614c1275064dc≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < 00338255bb1f422642fb2798ebe92e93b6e4209b≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < e0ce3ed1048a47986d15aef1a98ebda25560d257≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < ba35a5d775799ce5ad60230be97336f2fefd518e≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < 3d3abf3f7e8b1abb082070a343de82d7efc80523≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < e7177c7e32cb806f348387b7f4faafd4a5b32054≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < 3a062a5c55adc5507600b9ae6d911e247e2f1d6e≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < 7366830642505683bbe905a2ba5d18d6e4b512b8
and 2 more ≥ 8a76d7f25f8f24fc5a328c8e15e4a7313cf141b9 and < e750f85391286a4c8100275516973324b621a269version 3.0
Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.9 CVSS 3.1 High 2.0 5.3 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.9 CVSS 3.1 High — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
7.9 CVSS 3.1 High — — Linux via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H (score shown at the top: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67)

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.17%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Affected products added · linux/linux
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 7.9
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Deferred
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • 2025
  • CVE published
    Oct 28, 2025 · Linux

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× References added · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

11 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Linux
every CVE for this vendor

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-99999 ipv4: validate checksum_start before completing checksum 10h
  • CVE-2026-98432 ipv4: free inet_opt and ireq_opt after an RCU grace period 10h
  • CVE-2026-98424 wifi: cfg80211: undo netns switch if renaming the wiphy fails 1d
  • CVE-2026-98425 wifi: mac80211: don't warn when an IBSS has no channel to scan 1d
  • CVE-2026-98426 wifi: mwifiex: fix IRQ leak using wrong index in MSI-X error path 1d
  • CVE-2026-98427 net/sched: codel: bound the dropping loop per dequeue call 1d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No CWE classification.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2025-40026 is "KVM: x86: Don't (re)check L1 intercepts when completing userspace I/O", rated High. It affects Linux (Linux); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.9 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.17% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

Comments

Moderated technical discussion. Read the community guidelines.

No comments yet.

Sign in or create an account to comment and suggest corrections.