# CVE-2026-23198: KVM: Don't clobber irqfd routing type when deassigning irqfd
> A use-after-free vulnerability in Linux KVM irqfd deassignment allows attackers to cause denial of service or potentially execute code.
- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-77709, BELL-CVE-2026-23198, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-23198, GHSA-68jg-6v9h-662h, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-23198, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-23198, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-13-CVE-2026-23198, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2026-23198, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2026-23198, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-23198
## What is CVE-2026-23198?
CVE-2026-23198 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
### Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: Don't clobber irqfd routing type when deassigning irqfd
When deassigning a KVM_IRQFD, don't clobber the irqfd's copy of the IRQ's
routing entry as doing so breaks kvm_arch_irq_bypass_del_producer() on x86
and arm64, which explicitly look for KVM_IRQ_ROUTING_MSI. Instead, to
handle a concurrent routing update, verify that the irqfd is still active
before consuming the routing information. As evidenced by the x86 and
arm64 bugs, and another bug in kvm_arch_update_irqfd_routing() (see below),
clobbering the entry type without notifying arch code is surprising and
error prone.
As a bonus, checking that the irqfd is active provides a convenient
location for documenting _why_ KVM must not consume the routing entry for
an irqfd that is in the process of being deassigned: once the irqfd is
deleted from the list (which happens *before* the eventfd is detached), it
will no longer receive updates via kvm_irq_routing_update(), and so KVM
could deliver an event using stale routing information (relative to
KVM_SET_GSI_ROUTING returning to userspace).
As an even better bonus, explicitly checking for the irqfd being active
fixes a similar bug to the one the clobbering is trying to prevent: if an
irqfd is deactivated, and then its routing is changed,
kvm_irq_routing_update() won't invoke kvm_arch_update_irqfd_routing()
(because the irqfd isn't in the list). And so if the irqfd is in bypass
mode, IRQs will continue to be posted using the old routing information.
As for kvm_arch_irq_bypass_del_producer(), clobbering the routing type
results in KVM incorrectly keeping the IRQ in bypass mode, which is
especially problematic on AMD as KVM tracks IRQs that are being posted to
a vCPU in a list whose lifetime is tied to the irqfd.
Without the help of KASAN to detect use-after-free, the most common
sympton on AMD is a NULL pointer deref in amd_iommu_update_ga() due to
the memory for irqfd structure being re-allocated and zeroed, resulting
in irqfd->irq_bypass_data being NULL when read by
avic_update_iommu_vcpu_affinity():
BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000018
#PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
#PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
PGD 40cf2b9067 P4D 40cf2b9067 PUD 408362a067 PMD 0
Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP
CPU: 6 UID: 0 PID: 40383 Comm: vfio_irq_test
Tainted: G U W O 6.19.0-smp--5dddc257e6b2-irqfd #31 NONE
Tainted: [U]=USER, [W]=WARN, [O]=OOT_MODULE
Hardware name: Google, Inc. Arcadia_IT_80/Arcadia_IT_80, BIOS 34.78.2-0 09/05/2025
RIP: 0010:amd_iommu_update_ga+0x19/0xe0
Call Trace:
avic_update_iommu_vcpu_affinity+0x3d/0x90 [kvm_amd]
__avic_vcpu_load+0xf4/0x130 [kvm_amd]
kvm_arch_vcpu_load+0x89/0x210 [kvm]
vcpu_load+0x30/0x40 [kvm]
kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x45/0x620 [kvm]
kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x571/0x6a0 [kvm]
__se_sys_ioctl+0x6d/0xb0
do_syscall_64+0x6f/0x9d0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
RIP: 0033:0x46893b
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
If AVIC is inhibited when the irfd is deassigned, the bug will manifest as
list corruption, e.g. on the next irqfd assignment.
list_add corruption. next->prev should be prev (ffff8d474d5cd588),
but was 0000000000000000. (next=ffff8d8658f86530).
------------[ cut here ]------------
kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:31!
Oops: invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP
CPU: 128 UID: 0 PID: 80818 Comm: vfio_irq_test
Tainted: G U W O 6.19.0-smp--f19dc4d680ba-irqfd #28 NONE
Tainted: [U]=USER, [W]=WARN, [O]=OOT_MODULE
Hardware name: Google, Inc. Arcadia_IT_80/Arcadia_IT_80, BIOS 34.78.2-0 09/05/2025
RIP: 0010:__list_add_valid_or_report+0x97/0xc0
Call Trace:
avic_pi_update_irte+0x28e/0x2b0 [kvm_amd]
kvm_pi_update_irte+0xbf/0x190 [kvm]
kvm_arch_irq_bypass_add_producer+0x72/0x90 [kvm]
irq_bypass_register_consumer+0xcd/0x170 [irqbypa
---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference), CWE-416 (Use After Free)
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23198?
It affects 1 product.
Products: Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2026-23198?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2026-23198 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23198 in the wild and no public exploit code.
## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
## Fix prompt for AI coding agents
```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23198 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2026-23198 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 14 Feb 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-23198 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.
Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.
Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23198/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23198/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23198
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23198
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23198
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23198/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.