Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2026-46014

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.18.27 / 7.0.4 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SVM: Add missing save/restore handling of LBR MSRs MSR_IA32_DEBUGCTLMSR and LBR MSRs are currently not enumerated by KVM_GET_MSR_INDEX_LIST, and LBR MSRs cannot be set with KVM_SET_MSRS. So save/restore is completely broken. Fix it by adding the MSRs to msrs_to_save_base, and allowing writes to LBR MSRs from userspace only (as they are read-only MSRs) if LBR virtualization is enabled. Additionally, to correctly restore L1's LBRs while L2 is running, make sure the LBRs are copied from the captured VMCB01 save area in svm_copy_vmrun_state(). Note, for VMX, this also fixes a flaw where MSR_IA32_DEBUGCTLMSR isn't reported as an MSR to save/restore. Note #2, over-reporting MSR_IA32_LASTxxx on Intel is ok, as KVM already handles unsupported reads and writes thanks to commit b5e2fec0ebc3 ("KVM: Ignore DEBUGCTL MSRs with no effect") (kvm_do_msr_access() will morph the unsupported userspace write into a nop). [sean: guard with lbrv checks, massage changelog]

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis
How this class of weakness works · CWE-667

Shared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.

General guidance for the improper locking class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 2.6.26, < 6.18.27>= 6.19, < 7.0.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.18.27 / 7.0.4 or later
Fixed in 6.18.277.0.4
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 6.18.27 or later, or 7.0.4 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Check if the current version is affected: it is vulnerable if >= 2.6.26 AND < 6.18.27, OR >= 6.19 AND < 7.0.4
  3. 3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 6.18.27 or later, or version 7.0.4 or later
  4. 4. After kernel upgrade, reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  5. 5. Verify the fix is applied by checking that MSR_IA32_DEBUGCTLMSR and LBR MSRs are now properly enumerated in KVM_GET_MSR_INDEX_LIST
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel modules and could introduce compatibility changes with userspace tools; ensure KVM/QEMU tools are compatible

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-46014 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-46014 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data