CVE-2026-98470
Description
A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) subsystem for ARM64. This vulnerability allows a local attacker to cause a Denial of Service (DoS). When running in protected mode, the kernel issues an internal warning upon receiving an unknown virtual machine I/O control (IOCTL) command from userspace. On hosts configured to panic on kernel warnings, this causes the host operating system to crash.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Moderate impact because triggering a denial of service requires local access with privileges to interact with KVM virtual machine descriptors, is limited exclusively to ARM64 environments running protected KVM (pKVM), and only causes a crash if the host is non-standardly configured to panic on kernel warnings. Standard enterprise installations do not enable pKVM by default, and default system configurations log a warning rather than panicking the operating system. Consequently, the blast radius is restricted to specialized virtualized workloads on ARM64 hardware where strict warning-panic policies are deliberately enforced.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 4.7 | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Local | N/A | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | N/A |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | N/A |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
While assertion is good for catching logic errors and reducing the chances of reaching more serious vulnerability conditions, an attacker can still cause a denial of service if they can trigger an assert statement, and if the scope of the assert() extends beyond the attacker's own session. For example, if a server handles multiple simultaneous connections, if an assert() occurs in one single connection that causes all other connections to be dropped, this could be a significant denial of service.
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