CVE-2026-53360
KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use As per the GHCB spec, when using GHCB v2+ require the software scratch area to reside in the GHCB's shared buffer. Note, things like Page State Change (PSC) requests _rely_ on this behavior, as the guest can't provide a length when making the request, i.e. the size of the guest payload is bounded by the size of the shared buffer. Failure to force usage of the GHCB, and a slew of other flaws, lets a malicious SNP guest corrupt host kernel heap memory, and leak host heap layout information. setup_vmgexit_scratch() allocates a buffer via kvzalloc(exit_info_2), where exit_info_2 is guest-controlled. With exit_info_2=24, this yields a 24-byte allocation in kmalloc-cg-32 (32-byte slab objects). The buffer holds an 8-byte psc_hdr followed by 8-byte psc_entry structs, so only entries[0] and entries[1] are in-bounds. snp_begin_psc() validates end_entry against VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT (253) but NOT against the actual buffer size: idx_end = hdr->end_entry; if (idx_end >= VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT) { // checks 253, not buffer snp_complete_psc(svm, ...); return 1; } for (idx = idx_start; idx <= idx_end; idx++) { entry_start = entries[idx]; // OOB when idx >= 2 The guest sets end_entry=10+, causing the host to iterate entries[2+] which are OOB into adjacent slab objects. For each OOB entry: - The host reads 8 bytes (OOB READ / info leak oracle) - If the data passes PSC validation, __snp_complete_one_psc() writes cur_page = 1 or 512 into the entry (OOB WRITE, sev.c:3806) - If validation fails, the error response reveals whether adjacent memory is zero vs non-zero (information disclosure to guest) The guest controls allocation size (exit_info_2), entry range (cur_entry/end_entry), and can fire unlimited VMGEXITs to repeatedly hit different slab positions. By exploiting the variety of bugs, a malicious SEV-SNP guest can: - OOB read adjacent kmalloc-cg-32 objects (heap layout disclosure) - OOB write cur_page bits into adjacent objects (heap corruption) - Trigger use-after-free conditions across VMGEXITs E.g. with KASAN enabled, a single insmod of the PoC guest module produces 73 KASAN reports: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x126/0x890 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888219ffb5e0 by task qemu-system-x86/2199 BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x468/0x890 Write of size 8 at addr ffff888351566648 by task qemu-system-x86/2199 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888XXXXXXXXX which belongs to the cache kmalloc-cg-32 of size 32 The buggy address is located N bytes to the right of allocated 32-byte region [ffff888XXXXXXXXX, ffff888XXXXXXXXX) Breakdown: 62 slab-out-of-bounds (reads + writes past allocation) 7 slab-use-after-free 4 use-after-free All credit to Stan for the wonderful description and reproducer! [sean: write changelog]
INFO
Published Date :
July 4, 2026, 12:17 p.m.
Last Modified :
July 22, 2026, 7:07 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
No
Source :
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 |
Solution
- Update the Linux kernel to the latest version.
- Apply security patches for KVM SEV.
- Ensure GHCB v2+ uses scratch area correctly.
- Validate buffer sizes against guest-controlled inputs.
Public PoC/Exploit Available at Github
CVE-2026-53360 has a 2 public
PoC/Exploit available at Github.
Go to the Public Exploits tab to see the list.
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-2026-53360.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-53360 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-2026-53360
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).
PoC for CVE-2026-53360: guest-triggered heap out-of-bounds read/write in KVM SEV-SNP Page State Change (PSC) handling.
Makefile C
📡 PoC auto collect from GitHub. ⚠️ Be careful Malware.
security cve exploit poc vulnerability
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-53360 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-53360 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.
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Initial Analysis by [email protected]
Jul. 22, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CWE CWE-125 Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.13 up to (excluding) 6.18.35 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:7.1:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.10 up to (excluding) 6.12.93 *cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.19 up to (excluding) 7.0.12 Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b328ede59ac34e7998e1eee5e5f0cc26c2a91846 Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf9ba093fbb83c0c9a3dedd50efec29424eca2fc Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9b4198fbc6ed99a9da4bee9f74bb730f926c9ae Types: Patch Added Reference Type kernel.org: https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db3f2195d29344a3cf1e9dd9ab7f21ced7308cf7 Types: Patch -
CVE Modified by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Jul. 18, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added CVSS V3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H -
New CVE Received by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Jul. 04, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Affected [{'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951', 'lessThan': 'bf9ba093fbb83c0c9a3dedd50efec29424eca2fc', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951', 'lessThan': 'c9b4198fbc6ed99a9da4bee9f74bb730f926c9ae', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951', 'lessThan': 'b328ede59ac34e7998e1eee5e5f0cc26c2a91846', 'versionType': 'git'}, {'status': 'affected', 'version': '4af663c2f64a8d252e690c60cf8b8abf22dc2951', 'lessThan': 'db3f2195d29344a3cf1e9dd9ab7f21ced7308cf7', 'versionType': 'git'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'unaffected'}, {'repo': 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git', 'vendor': 'Linux', 'product': 'Linux', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '6.10'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '0', 'lessThan': '6.10', 'versionType': 'semver'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.12.93', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.12.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '6.18.35', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '6.18.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.0.12', 'versionType': 'semver', 'lessThanOrEqual': '7.0.*'}, {'status': 'unaffected', 'version': '7.1', 'versionType': 'original_commit_for_fix', 'lessThanOrEqual': '*'}], 'programFiles': ['arch/x86/kvm/svm/sev.c'], 'defaultStatus': 'affected'}] Added Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Require in-GHCB scratch area if GHCB v2+ is in use As per the GHCB spec, when using GHCB v2+ require the software scratch area to reside in the GHCB's shared buffer. Note, things like Page State Change (PSC) requests _rely_ on this behavior, as the guest can't provide a length when making the request, i.e. the size of the guest payload is bounded by the size of the shared buffer. Failure to force usage of the GHCB, and a slew of other flaws, lets a malicious SNP guest corrupt host kernel heap memory, and leak host heap layout information. setup_vmgexit_scratch() allocates a buffer via kvzalloc(exit_info_2), where exit_info_2 is guest-controlled. With exit_info_2=24, this yields a 24-byte allocation in kmalloc-cg-32 (32-byte slab objects). The buffer holds an 8-byte psc_hdr followed by 8-byte psc_entry structs, so only entries[0] and entries[1] are in-bounds. snp_begin_psc() validates end_entry against VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT (253) but NOT against the actual buffer size: idx_end = hdr->end_entry; if (idx_end >= VMGEXIT_PSC_MAX_COUNT) { // checks 253, not buffer snp_complete_psc(svm, ...); return 1; } for (idx = idx_start; idx <= idx_end; idx++) { entry_start = entries[idx]; // OOB when idx >= 2 The guest sets end_entry=10+, causing the host to iterate entries[2+] which are OOB into adjacent slab objects. For each OOB entry: - The host reads 8 bytes (OOB READ / info leak oracle) - If the data passes PSC validation, __snp_complete_one_psc() writes cur_page = 1 or 512 into the entry (OOB WRITE, sev.c:3806) - If validation fails, the error response reveals whether adjacent memory is zero vs non-zero (information disclosure to guest) The guest controls allocation size (exit_info_2), entry range (cur_entry/end_entry), and can fire unlimited VMGEXITs to repeatedly hit different slab positions. By exploiting the variety of bugs, a malicious SEV-SNP guest can: - OOB read adjacent kmalloc-cg-32 objects (heap layout disclosure) - OOB write cur_page bits into adjacent objects (heap corruption) - Trigger use-after-free conditions across VMGEXITs E.g. with KASAN enabled, a single insmod of the PoC guest module produces 73 KASAN reports: BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x126/0x890 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888219ffb5e0 by task qemu-system-x86/2199 BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in snp_begin_psc+0x468/0x890 Write of size 8 at addr ffff888351566648 by task qemu-system-x86/2199 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff888XXXXXXXXX which belongs to the cache kmalloc-cg-32 of size 32 The buggy address is located N bytes to the right of allocated 32-byte region [ffff888XXXXXXXXX, ffff888XXXXXXXXX) Breakdown: 62 slab-out-of-bounds (reads + writes past allocation) 7 slab-use-after-free 4 use-after-free All credit to Stan for the wonderful description and reproducer! [sean: write changelog] Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b328ede59ac34e7998e1eee5e5f0cc26c2a91846 Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bf9ba093fbb83c0c9a3dedd50efec29424eca2fc Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c9b4198fbc6ed99a9da4bee9f74bb730f926c9ae Added Reference https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db3f2195d29344a3cf1e9dd9ab7f21ced7308cf7