Affects the Linux kernel KVM subsystem (core infra). Guest-to-host escape or host crash risk on ARM KVM hosts; impacts cloud and enterprise virtualization.
CVE-2026-72289
KVM/arm64 VGIC bug lets guest corrupt host interrupt state, risking host crash or escape.
Is CVE-2026-72289 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-72289 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 0.18% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-72289?
CVE-2026-72289 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.3. 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-2026-72289?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-72289. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-72289 affect?
CVE-2026-72289 affects Linux kernel (KVM on arm64), AArch64 hosts running KVM, Cloud/hypervisor hosts using KVM on ARM. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-72289?
Apply vendor kernel updates immediately and reboot ARM KVM hosts; isolate untrusted guests until patched.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Untrusted guest can corrupt VGIC state causing host kernel memory corruption, DoS, or guest-to-host escape/privilege escalation.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < 3893e1fcf6f306b327a8358dcd1cbd077989a240
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < cb3efe1a354f1638726725c3ecee1ce8d1a7e2dc
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < da2d249a39a1881681c303ceea33f38ba1c5bbeb
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < 654be81c4c637af12709d47c7efc3302cd336513
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < e363c0bc0226dc5ea5046a88e9a6864b82c45399
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < 79fdd2aa774e44847cd9bb7edc811e73e3dc7bfe
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < 0658b09cba7fe866c6cd70cd2dcdfdcabe80328f
- affected>= 0919e84c0fc1fc73525fdcedefab89ea8460f697 and < 0074b82cdfcb5fd13710a0ac308ade68ac6f6fbe
- affected4.7
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.