CVE-2026-23554 | Use after free of paging structures in EPT

The Intel EPT paging code uses an optimization to defer flushing of any cached EPT state until the p2m lock is dropped, so that multiple modifications done under the same locked region only issue a single flush. Freeing of paging structures however is not deferred until the flushing is done, and can result in freed pages transiently being present in cached state. Such stale entries can point to memory ranges not owned by the guest, thus allowing access to unintended memory regions.

Published: 2026-03-23 Last update: 2026-04-10 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-23554 is rated Low Risk (32.6/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-23554

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-23 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-23554

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.1 6.0 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-23554

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-23554

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2026-23554: 1 source package rows (xen); 162 state rows across 6 repos (3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 15, open 147. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-23554
debian unimportant CVE-2026-23554 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (xen), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 4, resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-23554
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-23554/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-23554 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (xen), 7 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 7. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-23554

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-23554

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xen xen >= 4.17 cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:*:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*

References for CVE-2026-23554

cvelogic Threat Intelligence