VulnerabilityPublished 18 Oct 2026

CVE-2026-98718: Linux kernel · KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM before clearing SEV state

Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-98718· High

Not known to be exploited · fixed in de83ff6a4d8f3618473bedb3c4400020c22e8a8a : patch Linux kernel soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

Severity

High

Rated by Threat Radar · CVSS not yet scored by NVD

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 5% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in de83ff6a4d8f3618473bedb3c4400020c22e8a8a, 973ea70393e885e540f714904e51bc6cac80e3d7, 8b7d4f68fef96cebe0b6dbb6e5607772337f7369 +2

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

ghsa-8j5c-4j8r-8m5m

What to do

Upgrade Linux to de83ff6a4d8f3618473bedb3c4400020c22e8a8a, 973ea70393e885e540f714904e51bc6cac80e3d7 or 8b7d4f68fef96cebe0b6dbb6e5607772337f7369; Linux and linux/kernel to 7.2.10 or 6.18.56.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ d4cc2dff12116a700add601c0262132cc26e1b2c, < de83ff6a4d8f3618473bedb3c4400020c22e8a8a	Fixed in de83ff6a4d8f3618473bedb3c4400020c22e8a8a
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 93de2a6a4b91b72607136dd656edf03fb399d27f, < 973ea70393e885e540f714904e51bc6cac80e3d7	Fixed in 973ea70393e885e540f714904e51bc6cac80e3d7
LinuxLinux	Affected ≥ 37dfb676fafd1eef36fe0bb649607afbb0d5521b, < 8b7d4f68fef96cebe0b6dbb6e5607772337f7369	Fixed in 8b7d4f68fef96cebe0b6dbb6e5607772337f7369
LinuxLinux	Affected >=7.2.9 <7.2.10	Fixed in 7.2.10
LinuxLinux	Affected >=6.18.55 <6.18.56	Fixed in 6.18.56
Linuxlinux/kernel`pkg:deb/linux/kernel`Other threats	Affected >=6.18.55 <6.18.56 >=7.2.9 <7.2.10	Fixed in 6.18.56 7.2.10

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

AI-suggested

A fix for this vulnerability has been implemented in the Linux kernel. Users should update to the patched kernel version that includes this fix. Since this is a kernel-level issue, applying the official kernel update is the recommended remediation.

Description

A vulnerability in the Linux kernel's KVM SEV implementation was resolved by ensuring cache maintenance is performed on the source VM before clearing the SEV active state during intra-host migration. The issue involved a timing window where memory could be reclaimed and returned to the host without a proper cache flush, potentially causing stale or incorrect data to be exposed or overwritten. This was fixed by explicitly flushing caches prior to clearing the SEV active flag.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…