Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-89981
Published: September 16, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU150299
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 5.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:H/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-89981
CWE-ID: CWE-754
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local privileged user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to improper feature-state validation in __cpuinfo_store_cpu() when bringing an offlined CPU back online under pKVM with MTE disabled. A local privileged user can cause a CPU to be offlined and brought back online to cause a denial of service.
Affected software
Linux kernel
How to mitigate CVE-2026-89981
Install security update from vendor's repository.
Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3