CVE-2026-45944 iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down context entry

What is CVE-2026-45944?

CVE-2026-45944 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 May 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:

iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down context entry

When tearing down a context entry, the current implementation zeros the entire 128-bit entry using multiple 64-bit writes. This creates a window where the hardware can fetch a "torn" entry — where some fields are already zeroed while the 'Present' bit is still set — leading to unpredictable behavior or spurious faults.

While x86 provides strong write ordering, the compiler may reorder writes to the two 64-bit halves of the context entry. Even without compiler reordering, the hardware fetch is not guaranteed to be atomic with respect to multiple CPU writes.

Align with the "Guidance to Software for Invalidations" in the VT-d spec (Section 6.5.3.3) by implementing the recommended ownership handshake:

1. Clear only the 'Present' (P) bit of the context entry first to signal the transition of ownership from hardware to software. 2. Use dma_wmb() to ensure the cleared bit is visible to the IOMMU. 3. Perform the required cache and context-cache invalidation to ensure hardware no longer has cached references to the entry. 4. Fully zero out the entry only after the invalidation is complete.

Also, add a dma_wmb() to context_set_present() to ensure the entry is fully initialized before the 'Present' bit becomes visible.

Weakness: CWE-362

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45944?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2026-45944?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-45944 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45944 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as AZL-88749, BELL-CVE-2026-45944, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-45944, GHSA-xp3w-6f4f-gvg7, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2026-45944, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2026-45944 and 4 more.