CVE-2026-31593 | KVM: SEV: Reject attempts to sync VMSA of an already-launched/encrypted vCPU

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Reject attempts to sync VMSA of an already-launched/encrypted vCPU Reject synchronizing vCPU state to its associated VMSA if the vCPU has already been launched, i.e. if the VMSA has already been encrypted. On a host with SNP enabled, accessing guest-private memory generates an RMP #PF and panics the host. BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ff1276cbfdf36000 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x80000003) - RMP violation PGD 5a31801067 P4D 5a31802067 PUD 40ccfb5063 PMD 40e5954063 PTE 80000040fdf36163 SEV-SNP: PFN 0x40fdf36, RMP entry: [0x6010fffffffff001 - 0x000000000000001f] Oops: Oops: 0003 [#1] SMP NOPTI CPU: 33 UID: 0 PID: 996180 Comm: qemu-system-x86 Tainted: G OE Tainted: [O]=OOT_MODULE, [E]=UNSIGNED_MODULE Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R7625/0H1TJT, BIOS 1.5.8 07/21/2023 RIP: 0010:sev_es_sync_vmsa+0x54/0x4c0 [kvm_amd] Call Trace: <TASK> snp_launch_update_vmsa+0x19d/0x290 [kvm_amd] snp_launch_finish+0xb6/0x380 [kvm_amd] sev_mem_enc_ioctl+0x14e/0x720 [kvm_amd] kvm_arch_vm_ioctl+0x837/0xcf0 [kvm] kvm_vm_ioctl+0x3fd/0xcc0 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0xa3/0x100 x64_sys_call+0xfe0/0x2350 do_syscall_64+0x81/0x10f0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e RIP: 0033:0x7ffff673287d </TASK> Note, the KVM flaw has been present since commit ad73109ae7ec ("KVM: SVM: Provide support to launch and run an SEV-ES guest"), but has only been actively dangerous for the host since SNP support was added. With SEV-ES, KVM would "just" clobber guest state, which is totally fine from a host kernel perspective since userspace can clobber guest state any time before sev_launch_update_vmsa().

Published: 2026-04-24 Last update: 2026-04-29 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-31593 is rated Low Risk (23.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.02%). Mandatory action: 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-2026-31593

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 2026-04-25 0.02%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-31593

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-31593

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-31593

GHSA-jp87-j2ph-wv29 · Severity: medium — In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SEV: Reject attempts to...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-31593

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2026-31593 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-31593
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31593
suse high https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-31593/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-31593 medium priority: Ubuntu including 161 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1449 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1048, ignored 169, not-affected 112, released 83, needed 32, needs-triage 4, pending 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-31593

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-31593

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 6.11, < 6.12.83 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.13, < 6.18.24 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 6.19, < 6.19.14 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 7.0, < 7.0.1 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-31593

cvelogic Threat Intelligence