CVE-2026-98472: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Free have_run_cpus during VM destruction even if VM is no longer SEV Uncondition

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Free have_run_cpus during VM destruction even if VM is no longer SEV Uncondition

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Free have_run_cpus during VM destruction even if VM is no longer SEV Unconditionally free SEV's "have run CPUs" cpumask in the VM destroy path, i.e. even for what appear to be non-SEV VMs, as an SEV VM becomes a non-SEV VM if its state is intra-host migrated. Alternatively, the mask could be freed in sev_migrate_from() when "converting" the source VM, but that gets annoying because ideally KVM would nullify the mask to guard against UAF, and nullifying the mask would need be conditioned on CPUMASK_OFFSTACK=y. Freeing the mask during sev_migrate_from() is also not robust against other KVM bugs, though that's kind of a moot point since any such bugs would show up even if sev->active is never set. I.e. KVM must get that side of things correct. But, that's not a great reason to add more code just to make things marginally less robust.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.17%, higher than 5% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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