VulnerabilityPublished 30 Oct 2025Updated 21 Jul 2026

CVE-2025-40102: Linux kernel · KVM: arm64: Prevent access to vCPU events before init

Affects Linux kernelSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1 : update Linux kernel when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

Severity

Medium

Rated by Threat Radar · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7~24.04.1, 6.17.0-1008.8~24.04.1, 6.17.0-1008.8 +6

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 Oct 2025
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.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ubuntu 25.10linux`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux@6.17.0-14.14?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-14.14	Fixed in 6.17.0-14.14
Ubuntu 25.10linux-aws`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-aws@6.17.0-1007.7?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1007.7	Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure@6.17.0-1008.8?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1008.8	Fixed in 6.17.0-1008.8
Ubuntu 25.10linux-azure-fde`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-azure-fde@6.17.0-1017.17?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected 6.17.0-1003.3 – 6.17.0-1017.17 10 affected builds	Fixed in–
Ubuntu 25.10linux-gcp`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-gcp@6.17.0-1007.7?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1007.7	Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7
Ubuntu 25.10linux-oracle`pkg:deb/ubuntu/linux-oracle@6.17.0-1007.7?arch=source&distro=questing`Other threats	Affected <6.17.0-1007.7	Fixed in 6.17.0-1007.7

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

AI-suggested

A fix is available and has been applied in Linux kernel versions 6.17.0-1008.8 and later, as well as numerous other patched versions listed. Users should upgrade to these fixed kernel versions to mitigate this vulnerability. No additional mitigation steps are indicated.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: arm64: Prevent access to vCPU events before init Another day, another syzkaller bug. KVM erroneously allows userspace to pend vCPU events for a vCPU that hasn't been initialized yet, leading to KVM interpreting a bunch of uninitialized garbage for routing / injecting the exception. In one case the injection code and the hyp disagree on whether the vCPU has a 32bit EL1 and put the vCPU into an illegal mode for AArch64, tripping the BUG() in exception_target_el() during the next injection: kernel BUG at arch/arm64/kvm/inject_fault.c:40! Internal error: Oops - BUG: 00000000f2000800 [#1] SMP CPU: 3 UID: 0 PID: 318 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.17.0-rc4-00104-g10fd0285305d #6 PREEMPT Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) pstate: 21402009 (nzCv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=--) pc : exception_target_el+0x88/0x8c lr : pend_serror_exception+0x18/0x13c sp : ffff800082f03a10 x29: ffff800082f03a10 x28: ffff0000cb132280 x27: 0000000000000000 x26: 0000000000000000 x25: ffff0000c2a99c20 x24: 0000000000000000 x23: 0000000000008000 x22: 0000000000000002 x21: 0000000000000004 x20: 0000000000008000 x19: ffff0000c2a99c20 x18: 0000000000000000 x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 00000000200000c0 x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000 x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000 x9 : 0000000000000000 x8 : ffff800082f03af8 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 x5 : ffff800080f621f0 x4 : 0000000000000000 x3 : 0000000000000000 x2 : 000000000040009b x1 : 0000000000000003 x0 : ffff0000c2a99c20 Call trace: exception_target_el+0x88/0x8c (P) kvm_inject_serror_esr+0x40/0x3b4 __kvm_arm_vcpu_set_events+0xf0/0x100 kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl+0x180/0x9d4 kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x60c/0x9f4 __arm64_sys_ioctl+0xac/0x104 invoke_syscall+0x48/0x110 el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x40/0xe0 do_el0_svc+0x1c/0x28 el0_svc+0x34/0xf0 el0t_64_sync_handler+0xa0/0xe4 el0t_64_sync+0x198/0x19c Code: f946bc01 b4fffe61 9101e020 17fffff2 (d4210000) Reject the ioctls outright as no sane VMM would call these before KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT anyway. Even if it did the exception would've been thrown away by the eventual reset of the vCPU's state.

Impact

This vulnerability can cause a kernel panic or BUG due to illegal CPU mode transitions triggered by malformed vCPU event injections. It affects the stability and reliability of systems running vulnerable Linux kernel versions with KVM on arm64. There is no indication of known exploits in the wild or direct security compromise beyond system crashes.

Summary

The Linux kernel's KVM implementation for arm64 erroneously permits userspace to queue vCPU events for a virtual CPU that has not yet been initialized. This results in KVM processing uninitialized memory as event data, causing inconsistencies between the injection code and the hypervisor regarding the vCPU state. In particular, the vCPU may be placed into an illegal 32-bit EL1 mode on AArch64, triggering a kernel BUG in exception_target_el() during exception injection. This vulnerability was identified by syzkaller and has been fixed in multiple Linux kernel versions, including 6.17.0-1008.8 and others.

GCVE source: db.gcve.eu
OSV ID: UBUNTU-CVE-2025-40102
Osv Schema Version: 1.7.0
Ecosystems: Ubuntu:16.04:LTS, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS, Ubuntu:20.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS, Ubuntu:22.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Nvidia-BlueField:22.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-preview:22.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:22.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:Realtime:22.04:LTS, Ubuntu:24.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Nvidia-BlueField:24.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:24.04:LTS, Ubuntu:Pro:Realtime:24.04:LTS, Ubuntu:25.10

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 21 Jul 2026, 04:13 UTC

Technical details

References

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