CVE-2026-64561

HIGH

KVM: x86: Check for invalid/obsolete root *after* making MMU pages available

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

EIP tracks 6 public exploits for CVE-2026-64561. PoCs published by HackSpeak, chuzhongyun, aarif450.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository contains a functional guest-to-host escape exploit for CVE-2026-64561, a use-after-free vulnerability in KVM/x86's shadow MMU. The exploit leverages recursive zapping of shadow pages without root_count guards to achieve privilege escalation on the host (creating /Zapscape as root).

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Check for invalid/obsolete root *after* making MMU pages available Check for a "stale" page fault, i.e. for an invalid and/or obsolete root, after making MMU pages available for the shadow MMU. If reclaiming shadow pages zaps an in-use root, i.e. marks it invalid, then KVM will attempt to map memory into an invalid root. On its own, populating an invalid root is "fine", but because child shadow pages inherit their parent's role, any children created during the map/fetch will be created as invalid pages, thus violating KVM's invariant that invalid pages are never on the list of active MMU pages. Note, the underlying flaw has existed since KVM first started tracking invalid roots in 2008 (commit 2e53d63acba7, "KVM: MMU: ignore zapped root pagetables"), but the true badness only came along in 2020 (Linux 5.9) with the invariant that invalid shadow pages can't be on the list of active pages. Note #2, inheriting role.invalid when creating child shadow pages is also far from ideal; that flaw will be addressed separately.

Exploits (6)

github WORKING POC 1 stars
by HackSpeak · cpoc
https://github.com/HackSpeak/CVE-2026-64561

This repository contains a functional guest-to-host escape exploit for CVE-2026-64561, a use-after-free vulnerability in KVM/x86's shadow MMU. The exploit leverages recursive zapping of shadow pages without root_count guards to achieve privilege escalation on the host (creating /Zapscape as root).

Classification
Working Poc 99%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux KVM (x86_64) with AMD nested SVM/NPT (Linux kernel 7.1.3)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Vulnerable KVM version (Linux 7.1.3 with AMD nested SVM/NPT enabled) · Guest VM with unprivileged code execution · Nested virtualization support (AMD SVM/NPT)
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 08, 2026 Full analysis →
github WRITEUP
by chuzhongyun · poc
https://github.com/chuzhongyun/CVE-2026-64561-Kernel-Fix

This repository provides a detailed technical guide for upgrading the Linux Kernel to version 7.1.6/7.1.7 to mitigate CVE-2026-64561, a vulnerability in the KVM/x86 subsystem. The writeup includes step-by-step instructions for ELRepo RPM installation and source-code compilation, with environment-specific considerations for KVM hosts.

Classification
Writeup 99%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux Kernel (KVM/x86 subsystem) versions vulnerable to CVE-2026-64561
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a Linux system running a vulnerable kernel version · Root/administrative privileges for kernel upgrade · Compatibility with ELRepo or kernel.org source code
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 08, 2026 Full analysis →
github STUB
by aarif450 · htmlpoc
https://github.com/aarif450/aarif450.github.io

The repository contains only a README.md file describing an educational website with no relation to CVE-2026-64561 or any exploit code. No technical details, vulnerability analysis, or proof-of-concept are present.

Classification
Stub 95%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: none
No auth needed
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 07, 2026 Full analysis →
github WORKING POC
by aarif450 · cpoc
https://github.com/aarif450/Zapscape

This repository contains a functional guest-to-host escape exploit for CVE-2026-64561, a use-after-free vulnerability in KVM/x86's shadow MMU. The exploit leverages a recursive zap flaw in `mmu_page_zap_pte()` to achieve host privilege escalation (creating `/Zapscape` as root) via nested virtualization (AMD SVM/NPT).

Classification
Working Poc 99%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux KVM/x86 (AMD nested SVM/NPT, kernel 7.1.3)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Nested virtualization enabled (AMD SVM/NPT or Intel EPT with page walk lengths 4/5 exposed to L1) · Unprivileged guest execution access · Vulnerable KVM version (pre-patch for recursive-zap root_count check)
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 07, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WRITEUP
by Aoripus-LTD · poc
https://github.com/Aoripus-LTD/Zapscape-Fix

This repository provides a detailed technical analysis and patch backports for CVE-2026-64561 (Zapscape), a use-after-free vulnerability in the KVM/x86 shadow MMU. The patches correct the ordering of stale root checks in KVM page fault handlers to prevent invalid shadow page list insertions and post-free writes, which could lead to guest-to-host escapes.

Classification
Writeup 99%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel KVM (x86) versions 7.1.3, 7.1.4, and various RHEL 8.x/CentOS Stream 8 kernels
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Vulnerable KVM host (specific kernel versions) · Guest VM with ability to trigger page faults
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 07, 2026 Full analysis →
github WORKING POC
by HORKimhab · cpoc
https://github.com/HORKimhab/CVE-2026-64561

This repository contains a functional guest-to-host escape exploit for CVE-2026-64561, a use-after-free vulnerability in KVM/x86's shadow MMU. The exploit leverages a recursive zap flaw in `mmu_page_zap_pte()` to achieve privilege escalation from an unprivileged guest to host root via nested virtualization (AMD SVM/NPT).

Classification
Working Poc 99%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Linux kernel (KVM/x86) with AMD nested SVM/NPT, specifically tested on Linux 7.1.3
No auth needed
Prerequisites: AMD CPU with nested virtualization (SVM/NPT) enabled · KVM host running vulnerable Linux kernel (pre-patch for CVE-2026-64561) · Unprivileged guest access to trigger the exploit
mistral-large-3 · analyzed Aug 07, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v3 8.8
EPSS 0.0016
EPSS Percentile 5.3%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Details

Status published
Products (16)
linux/Kernel 5.9.0 - 6.6.148linux
linux/Kernel 6.13.0 - 6.18.42linux
linux/Kernel 6.19.0 - 7.1.6linux
linux/Kernel 6.7.0 - 6.12.101linux
Linux/Linux < 5.9
Linux/Linux 5.9
Linux/Linux 6.12.101 - 6.12.*
Linux/Linux 6.18.42 - 6.18.*
Linux/Linux 6.6.148 - 6.6.*
Linux/Linux 7.1.6 - 7.1.*
... and 6 more
Published Aug 04, 2026
Tracked Since Aug 04, 2026