Hypervisor guest-to-host escape in widely used Linux KVM on arm64 could lead to host compromise across cloud and enterprise.
CVE-2026-72279
KVM (arm64) mapping bug lets guest bypass read-only PFN protections, risking host compromise.
Is CVE-2026-72279 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72279 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.19% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-72279?
CVE-2026-72279 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.0. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-72279?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72279. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-72279 affect?
CVE-2026-72279 affects Linux kernel KVM (arm64), ARM64 hosts running KVM, Cloud hypervisors using Linux KVM. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-72279?
Apply vendor/upstream Linux kernel KVM patches for arm64 immediately.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Malicious guest can write to read-only host PFNs via VNCR mapping, enabling host memory corruption and VM escape.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 2a359e072596fcb2e9e85017a865e3618a2fe5b5 and < 5c50db5bcbb9073cb2fd97be51b962de92f429e9
- affected>= 2a359e072596fcb2e9e85017a865e3618a2fe5b5 and < d35defbdfcb15296ebe28968ad7452c1a8c11cea
- affected>= 2a359e072596fcb2e9e85017a865e3618a2fe5b5 and < 2684e02bac41c5220f6c1ab2bdcc957b71812977
- affected6.16
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.