CVE-2026-89981

arm64: Don't read GMID_EL1 when MTE is disabled

State
Published
Severity
Not scored
Published
Sep 16, 2026
Updated
Oct 19, 2026
Reserved
Sep 11, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

arm64: Don't read GMID_EL1 when MTE is disabled

__cpuinfo_store_cpu() gates the GMID_EL1 read on the raw ID_AA64PFR1_EL1, so it reads the register even when the kernel has disabled MTE (CONFIG_ARM64_MTE=n or arm64.nomte). KVM sets HCR_EL2.TID5 in that case, and pKVM injects an UNDEF the host cannot handle:

Internal error: Oops - Undefined instruction: 0000000002000000 [#1] SMP pc : __cpuinfo_store_cpu+0xf4/0x264 Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill the idle task!

Only pKVM reaches it, and only after a CPU is offlined and brought back online: its CPU_ON relay sets the host HCR before the CPU enters EL1, while plain nVHE sets it at CPUHP_AP_KVM_ONLINE.

Gate the read on the CPU's own ID_AA64PFR1_EL1 with the command-line override applied, and on CONFIG_ARM64_MTE, which no register reflects. The boot CPU stores its registers before init_cpu_features() strips an unsafe override, so clamp against the hardware value here too.

Scores

The record has no CVSS score.

Weaknesses

The record names no weakness.

Affected Products

ProductVersions
LinuxLinux
  • f35abcbb8a084db4c24b66ccc8db0405c08e2f61 to before d2d22ff377cd43f2e9660426ff22e3cd4c534637Affected
  • f35abcbb8a084db4c24b66ccc8db0405c08e2f61 to before 5445d64199626974269fcdf347769ad44b0bb53bAffected
LinuxLinux
  • 7.0Affected
  • before 7.0Not affected
  • 7.2.5 through 7.2.*Not affected
  • 7.3 and laterNot affected

References

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