HIGH Introduced in 5.7
vhost IotlbEntries Leak
CVE-2026-74713
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
KernelScan AI7.0HIGH
01Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vhost_iotlb: bound map allocation in add_range vhost_iotlb_add_range_ctx() only retires an old entry when the table has a non-zero limit, has exactly reached that limit and has VHOST_IOTLB_FLAG_RETIRE set. Non-retiring tables can keep allocating entries after reaching their configured limit. Existing vhost devices allocate their IOTLB with max_iotlb_entries from vhost.c, which defaults to 2048 and is tunable by module parameter. Use the caller-provided limit at the allocation point instead of adding a separate default in the common IOTLB helper, and reject non-positive values in vhost paths that can report an error. Other vhost IOTLB users should not create zero-limit tables when entries can be populated from userspace or guest-controlled requests. Add caller-side max_iotlb_entries parameters for mlx5 vDPA, VDUSE and vhost-vDPA. Reject non-positive VDUSE and vhost-vDPA values, and require at least two entries for vdpa_sim and mlx5 vDPA paths that install full-range mappings, since those mappings are split into two IOTLB entries. Handle full-range mappings in the common helper by checking that the IOTLB can hold both split entries before inserting the first half. This avoids returning an error after leaving a half mapping behind. When the table is full, keep the existing retire behavior for retiring tables and return -ENOSPC for non-retiring tables. Reuse the retired map node instead of freeing it and allocating a replacement, so a stream of IOTLB updates cannot keep forcing GFP_ATOMIC allocations after the table has reached its limit. If a zero-limit IOTLB still reaches the common helper, treat it as a configuration error and return -EINVAL. I found this bug myself, though the patch was written with AI assistance.
02KernelScan AI Analysis
Risk summary
Hosts running vDPA or vhost devices with virtio guests are at risk. A malicious guest VM can consume unbounded host kernel memory by sending many IOTLB mapping requests, potentially causing system-wide OOM conditions. The vulnerability requires no host-side privileges from the attacker, only that a vDPA device is assigned to the guest.
Vulnerability analysis
The vhost IOTLB helper that manages I/O translation entries for virtio devices does not enforce allocation limits when a table is created with a zero entry limit. Several vDPA and vhost drivers create such unlimited tables, so a malicious guest VM or local process can continuously add mapping entries and consume unbounded host kernel memory until the system reaches OOM. The fix requires all IOTLB tables to have a positive size limit, rejects further insertions when non-retiring tables are full, reuses retired entries instead of repeatedly allocating replacements, and validates that sufficient capacity exists for both halves of a split full-range mapping before inserting the first half. The primary attack path is from a guest VM through its virtio device to a host running vDPA hardware or vhost-vDPA, requiring no host-side privileges from the attacker; secondary paths through VDUSE or vhost require local privileged access to create the device.
Lifecycle
03Fix Versions
| Branch | Introduced | Fixed in | Patch commit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 5.7 | 7.1.9 | ae128dd19040 |
| mainline | 5.7 | 7.2 | 1ed35ac7f3fe |