# CVE-2026-72289: KVM: arm64: vgic: Check the interrupt is still ours before migrating it

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's KVM arm64 VGIC allows a double list deletion, potentially causing a kernel crash or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2026-72289, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-72289, GHSA-j2wf-f982-8f9v, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-72289

## What is CVE-2026-72289?

CVE-2026-72289 is a critical 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: vgic: Check the interrupt is still ours before migrating it

vgic_prune_ap_list() drops both ap_list_lock and irq_lock while migrating
an interrupt to another vCPU. After reacquiring the locks it only checks
that the affinity is unchanged (target_vcpu == vgic_target_oracle(irq))
before moving the interrupt, which assumes that an interrupt whose affinity
is preserved is still queued on this vCPU's ap_list.

That assumption no longer holds if the interrupt is taken off the ap_list
while the locks are dropped. vgic_flush_pending_lpis() removes the
interrupt from the list and sets irq->vcpu to NULL, but leaves
enabled/pending/target_vcpu untouched. As the interrupt is still enabled
and pending, vgic_target_oracle() returns the same target_vcpu, so the
affinity check passes and list_del() is run a second time on an entry that
has already been removed.

Also check that the interrupt is still assigned to this vCPU
(irq->vcpu == vcpu) before moving it.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72289?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72289?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-72289 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72289 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72289 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72289 is a critical 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-72289 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-2026-72289/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72289/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72289
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72289
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72289

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72289/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.