Skip to main content
VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-52959: Linux kernel · virt: sev-guest: Do not use host-controlled page order in cleanup path

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · patch available : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 13:47 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 1% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 24 Jun 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinuxpkg:deb/ubuntu/linux@7.0.0-28.28?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-5.5 – 7.0.0-28.28
18 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-awspkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws@7.0.0-1008.8?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1008.8
9 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azurepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure@7.0.0-1009.9?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1009.9
10 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-azure-fdepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde@7.0.0-1008.8?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 7.0.0-1003.3 – 7.0.0-1008.8
4 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gcppkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp@7.0.0-1008.8?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • 6.17.0-1002.2 – 7.0.0-1008.8
9 affected builds
Fixed in–
Ubuntu 26.04 LTSlinux-gkepkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gke@7.0.0-1003.4?arch=source&distro=resoluteOther threatsAffected
  • =7.0.0-1002.3
  • =7.0.0-1003.4
Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A patch addressing this vulnerability is available and should be applied promptly. The fix involves changes to the Linux kernel's SEV-guest subsystem to properly handle page allocation and freeing. Users should update to the fixed kernel versions as indicated in the vendor advisory (Ubuntu USN-8566-1). No additional mitigation actions are specified or required beyond applying the official fix.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's SEV-guest subsystem was resolved that involved improper handling of host-controlled page order during cleanup. The issue occurred when the kernel function get_ext_report() used a host-provided buffer length to compute page order for freeing memory, which could lead to corruption in the page allocator. The fix involved using alloc_pages_exact() and consistent page count calculations to prevent this. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of the linux-hwe-edge kernel prior to the fixed releases. The CVSS score is 7.8, indicating a high severity with potential for confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. A patch is available and should be applied.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…