CVE-2026-23554
Use after free of paging structures in EPT
Description
The Intel EPT paging code uses an optimization to defer flushing of any cached EPT state until the p2m lock is dropped, so that multiple modifications done under the same locked region only issue a single flush. Freeing of paging structures however is not deferred until the flushing is done, and can result in freed pages transiently being present in cached state. Such stale entries can point to memory ranges not owned by the guest, thus allowing access to unintended memory regions.
INFO
Published Date :
March 23, 2026, 7:16 a.m.
Last Modified :
March 23, 2026, 8:16 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-23554
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
Solution
- Apply vendor patches for Intel EPT paging code.
- Defer freeing paging structures until EPT state flush is complete.
- Ensure memory integrity by validating page ownership.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-23554.
| URL | Resource |
|---|---|
| https://xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-480.html | |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/17/6 | |
| http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-480.html |
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-23554 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-23554
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-23554 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-23554 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
CVE Modified by af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Mar. 23, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Reference http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/17/6 Added Reference http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-480.html -
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Mar. 23, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description The Intel EPT paging code uses an optimization to defer flushing of any cached EPT state until the p2m lock is dropped, so that multiple modifications done under the same locked region only issue a single flush. Freeing of paging structures however is not deferred until the flushing is done, and can result in freed pages transiently being present in cached state. Such stale entries can point to memory ranges not owned by the guest, thus allowing access to unintended memory regions. Added Reference https://xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-480.html