# CVE-2026-64604: KVM: VMX: Grab vmcs12 on CR8 interception update iff vCPU is in guest mode

> A local attacker can trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service in KVM by creating a vCPU while nested virtualization is active.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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:** 6 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-64604, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-64604, GHSA-m98c-vhm9-hw9c, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-64604

## What is CVE-2026-64604?

CVE-2026-64604 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Aug 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: VMX: Grab vmcs12 on CR8 interception update iff vCPU is in guest mode

When updating CR8 intercepts, get vmcs12 if and only if the vCPU is in
guest mode so that a future change can have update CR8 intercepts during
vCPU creation, without running afoul of get_vmcs12()'s lockdep assertion.

  ------------[ cut here ]------------
  debug_locks && !(lock_is_held(&(&vcpu->mutex)->dep_map) || !refcount_read(&vcpu->kvm->users_count))
  WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.h:61 at get_vmcs12 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.h:60 [inline], CPU#0: syz.2.19/5879
  WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.h:61 at vmx_update_cr8_intercept+0x3de/0x4e0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:6879, CPU#0: syz.2.19/5879
  Modules linked in:
  CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 5879 Comm: syz.2.19 Not tainted syzkaller #0 PREEMPT(full)
  Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.16.2-debian-1.16.2-1 04/01/2014
  RIP: 0010:get_vmcs12 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.h:60 [inline]
  RIP: 0010:vmx_update_cr8_intercept+0x3de/0x4e0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:6879
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   apic_update_ppr arch/x86/kvm/lapic.c:984 [inline]
   kvm_lapic_reset+0x1c24/0x2980 arch/x86/kvm/lapic.c:3023
   kvm_vcpu_reset+0x44c/0x1bf0 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:12986
   kvm_arch_vcpu_create+0x746/0x8b0 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:12847
   kvm_vm_ioctl_create_vcpu+0x428/0x930 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:4201
   kvm_vm_ioctl+0x893/0xd50 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:5159
   vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
   __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:597 [inline]
   __se_sys_ioctl+0xfc/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:583
   do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 [inline]
   do_syscall_64+0x174/0x580 arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
   </TASK>

No functional change intended.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-64604?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-64604?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-64604 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-64604 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-64604 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-64604 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 6 Aug 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-2026-64604 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2026-64604/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64604/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64604
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64604
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-64604

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-64604/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.