Skip to content
Heist/ feed
Back to feed
HighFix available

KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration

Type: advisorySources: OSV

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration Manually perform cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration to ensure no stale data is left in CPU caches after the VM is destroyed. Because the source VM is "converted" to a non-SEV VM, KVM's memory reclaim flows won't trigger cache maintenance, e.g. when all guest memory is reclaimed in response to detaching from the mmu_notifier. Note, relying on the destination VM to do cache maintenance isn't an option as KVM doesn't require identical guest memory configurations, i.e. the source VM may have access to memory that the destination VM does not. Enforcing equivalent memory configurations is infeasible, as it would require a *deep* comparison of memslots, e.g. to verify that not only are the memslot identical, but what the memslots point at is also identical.

Products
Kernel
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
6.18.55, 7.2.9
CVEs
CVE-2026-98471
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
8 Nov 2026, 01:45 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration

core-osv · Original source

Published 18 Oct 2026, 15:15 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration Manually perform cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration to ensure no stale data is left in CPU caches after the VM is destroyed. Because the source VM is "converted" to a non-SEV VM, KVM's memory reclaim flows won't trigger cache maintenance, e.g. when all guest memory is reclaimed in response to detaching from the mmu_notifier. Note, relying on the destination VM to do cache maintenance isn't an option as KVM doesn't require identical guest memory configurations, i.e. the source VM may have access to memory that the destination VM does not. Enforcing equivalent memory configurations is infeasible, as it would require a *deep* comparison of memslots, e.g. to verify that not only are the memslot identical, but what the memslots point at is also identical.

osv:CVE-2026-98471

Kernel

Fixed versions: 6.18.55, 7.2.9

Complete source record
{
  "id": "45ad6cf4357be0f1ccba19d148b735757092cfa045c6c89c0a419639a2fbe0c9",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-98471",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration",
    "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Do cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration Manually perform cache maintenance on the source VM during intra-host migration to ensure no stale data is left in CPU caches after the VM is destroyed. Because the source VM is \"converted\" to a non-SEV VM, KVM's memory reclaim flows won't trigger cache maintenance, e.g. when all guest memory is reclaimed in response to detaching from the mmu_notifier. Note, relying on the destination VM to do cache maintenance isn't an option as KVM doesn't require identical guest memory configurations, i.e. the source VM may have access to memory that the destination VM does not. Enforcing equivalent memory configurations is infeasible, as it would require a *deep* comparison of memslots, e.g. to verify that not only are the memslot identical, but what the memslots point at is also identical.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-98471",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "Kernel",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "6.18.55",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          },
          {
            "value": "7.2.9",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2026-98471",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2026-98471"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "b56639318bb2be66aceba92836279714488709b4"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "37dfb676fafd1eef36fe0bb649607afbb0d5521b"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "d4cc2dff12116a700add601c0262132cc26e1b2c"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "93de2a6a4b91b72607136dd656edf03fb399d27f"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-98471.json"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "5.16.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "6.18.55"
                }
              ]
            },
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "6.19.0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "7.2.9"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "Kernel",
            "ecosystem": "Linux"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-98471.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:52.654186575Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37dfb676fafd1eef36fe0bb649607afbb0d5521b",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93de2a6a4b91b72607136dd656edf03fb399d27f",
        "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d4cc2dff12116a700add601c0262132cc26e1b2c",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98471.json",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-98471",
        "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cna_assigner": "Linux",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/98xxx/CVE-2026-98471.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2026-98471",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 521473,
  "published_at": "2026-10-18T15:15:23.69+00:00"
}