In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
RISC-V: KVM: Don't zero-out PMU snapshot area before freeing data
With the latest Linux-6.11-rc3, the below NULL pointer crash is observed
when SBI PMU snapshot is enabled for the guest and the guest is forcefully
powered-off.
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000508
Oops [#1]
Modules linked in: kvm
CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 61 Comm: term-poll Not tainted 6.11.0-rc3-00018-g44d7178dd77a #3
Hardware name: riscv-virtio,qemu (DT)
epc : __kvm_write_guest_page+0x94/0xa6 [kvm]
ra : __kvm_write_guest_page+0x54/0xa6 [kvm]
epc : ffffffff01590e98 ra : ffffffff01590e58 sp : ffff8f80001f39b0
gp : ffffffff81512a60 tp : ffffaf80024872c0 t0 : ffffaf800247e000
t1 : 00000000000007e0 t2 : 0000000000000000 s0 : ffff8f80001f39f0
s1 : 00007fff89ac4000 a0 : ffffffff015dd7e8 a1 : 0000000000000086
a2 : 0000000000000000 a3 : ffffaf8000000000 a4 : ffffaf80024882c0
a5 : 0000000000000000 a6 : ffffaf800328d780 a7 : 00000000000001cc
s2 : ffffaf800197bd00 s3 : 00000000000828c4 s4 : ffffaf800248c000
s5 : ffffaf800247d000 s6 : 0000000000001000 s7 : 0000000000001000
s8 : 0000000000000000 s9 : 00007fff861fd500 s10: 0000000000000001
s11: 0000000000800000 t3 : 00000000000004d3 t4 : 00000000000004d3
t5 : ffffffff814126e0 t6 : ffffffff81412700
status: 0000000200000120 badaddr: 0000000000000508 cause: 000000000000000d
[] __kvm_write_guest_page+0x94/0xa6 [kvm]
[] kvm_vcpu_write_guest+0x56/0x90 [kvm]
[] kvm_pmu_clear_snapshot_area+0x42/0x7e [kvm]
[] kvm_riscv_vcpu_pmu_deinit.part.0+0xe0/0x14e [kvm]
[] kvm_riscv_vcpu_pmu_deinit+0x1a/0x24 [kvm]
[] kvm_arch_vcpu_destroy+0x28/0x4c [kvm]
[] kvm_destroy_vcpus+0x5a/0xda [kvm]
[] kvm_arch_destroy_vm+0x14/0x28 [kvm]
[] kvm_destroy_vm+0x168/0x2a0 [kvm]
[] kvm_put_kvm+0x3c/0x58 [kvm]
[] kvm_vm_release+0x22/0x2e [kvm]
Clearly, the kvm_vcpu_write_guest() function is crashing because it is
being called from kvm_pmu_clear_snapshot_area() upon guest tear down.
To address the above issue, simplify the kvm_pmu_clear_snapshot_area() to
not zero-out PMU snapshot area from kvm_pmu_clear_snapshot_area() because
the guest is anyway being tore down.
The kvm_pmu_clear_snapshot_area() is also called when guest changes
PMU snapshot area of a VCPU but even in this case the previous PMU
snaphsot area must not be zeroed-out because the guest might have
reclaimed the pervious PMU snapshot area for some other purpose.
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (5.5): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 5.5 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 5.5 MEDIUMCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 0.2% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-25). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at every mission impact level.CISA BOD 26-04: 60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at every mission impact level.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)60 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact partial (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it