# CVE-2026-98156: drm/virtio: use the DMA API for resource backing on Xen

> A Linux kernel flaw in virtio-gpu allows Xen PV guests to leak memory from other domains due to incorrect DMA API usage.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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:** 25 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-108225, BELL-CVE-2026-98156, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-98156, GHSA-h2rc-2f34-85j8, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-98156

## What is CVE-2026-98156?

CVE-2026-98156 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Sep 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:

drm/virtio: use the DMA API for resource backing on Xen

On a Xen PV domain page addresses bear no relation to the real machine
addresses the host would have to use to reach it.
virtio_ring.c handles this correctly, vring_use_map_api() returns true
for any xen_domain() regardless of VIRTIO_F_ACCESS_PLATFORM.

virtio-gpu makes the same decision independently, but its copy
looks only at the feature bit:

	bool use_dma_api = !virtio_has_dma_quirk(vgdev->vdev);

QEMU does not set iommu_platform on virtio-vga by default, so
VIRTIO_F_ACCESS_PLATFORM is not negotiated, use_dma_api is false, and
virtio_gpu_object_shmem_init() describes the framebuffer's backing pages
to the host with sg_phys().  Those are guest-physical addresses. In a PV
domain they resolve, on the host side, to pages belonging to some other
domain, so the host scans out unrelated memory.

Move the decision into virtio_gpu_use_dma_api() and give it the
xen_domain() check, like vring_use_map_api() has. This
additionally enables the dma_sync_sgtable_for_device() calls in
virtgpu_vq.c, which are required for correctness whenever swiotlb
is in play.

Reproduced with a Xen 4.21 PV dom0 nested inside QEMU 8.2 with
virtio-vga, on both a distro 6.8 kernel and 6.18 LTS. A PVH dom0
works fine and doesn't need this fix because it is identity-mapped,
only PV dom0s are affected.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-98156?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-98156?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-98156 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-98156 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-2026-98156 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-98156 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Sep 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-2026-98156 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-2026-98156/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98156/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-98156
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98156
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98156

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-98156/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.