iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down PASID entry
CVE-2026-45894 · published 27 May 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: high, CVSS score 7.8 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-45894?
Paste this prompt into Claude Code, Cursor or any AI coding tool: it runs a free Shippable scan of your project and fixes what it finds. Built with Lovable, Bolt or v0? Scan your live app. Or upload your package file.
Who is affected
- Linux Linux: 0bbeb01a4fafbf8422e5c8882d461d6ac4f71e15 to < c36b0515c6445bd137ec8ad86ef5470c45d6e4bf, 0bbeb01a4fafbf8422e5c8882d461d6ac4f71e15 to < a84d30e8d2bacd21782a6481158b7c9c552f4868, 0bbeb01a4fafbf8422e5c8882d461d6ac4f71e15 to < 821807c167b7b48a41b95b6607c6b9f97600f7d9, 0bbeb01a4fafbf8422e5c8882d461d6ac4f71e15 to < 949d71666e9dd19f21e7b4b53a88cd2c5b902858
- Linux Linux: 5.0
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down PASID entry
The Intel VT-d Scalable Mode PASID table entry consists of 512 bits (64
bytes). When tearing down an entry, the current implementation zeros the
entire 64-byte structure immediately using multiple 64-bit writes.
Since the IOMMU hardware may fetch these 64 bytes using multiple
internal transactions (e.g., four 128-bit bursts), updating or zeroing
the entire entry while it is active (P=1) risks a "torn" read. If a
hardware fetch occurs simultaneously with the CPU zeroing the entry, the
hardware could observe an inconsistent state, leading to unpredictable
behavior or spurious faults.
Follow the "Guidance to Software for Invalidations" in the VT-d spec
(Section 6.5.3.3) by implementing the recommended ownership handshake:
1. Clear only the 'Present' (P) bit of the PASID entry.
2. Use a dma_wmb() to ensure the cleared bit is visible to hardware
before proceeding.
3. Execute the required invalidation sequence (PASID cache, IOTLB, and
Device-TLB flush) to ensure the hardware has released all cached
references.
4. Only after the flushes are complete, zero out the remaining fields
of the PASID entry.
Also, add a dma_wmb() in pasid_set_present() to ensure that all other
fields of the PASID entry are visible to the hardware before the Present
bit is set.
Check your whole app
Dependencies are only half of it. Free and read-only: before you push, run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder, no account needed. For your live app, you prove it's yours with a one-line tag first.
References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/c36b0515c6445bd137ec8ad86ef5470c45d6e4bf
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/a84d30e8d2bacd21782a6481158b7c9c552f4868
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/821807c167b7b48a41b95b6607c6b9f97600f7d9
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/949d71666e9dd19f21e7b4b53a88cd2c5b902858
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/75ed00055c059dedc47b5daaaa2f8a7a019138ff
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 25 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON