CVE-2026-72281 KVM: arm64: account pKVM reclaim against the VM mm
A flaw in Linux KVM arm64 memory accounting allows local attackers to cause denial of service by triggering incorrect memory charge drops during VM teardown.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-72281?
CVE-2026-72281 is a denial of service vulnerability in Linux, published on 15 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: arm64: account pKVM reclaim against the VM mm
Protected guest faults charge long term pins to the VM's mm. Teardown can run later from file release, where current->mm may be unrelated.
Drop the charge from kvm->mm instead.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72281?
How do I fix CVE-2026-72281?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-72281 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72281 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72281, GHSA-2r23-7fx7-5r42, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72281.