Bug 2521440 (CVE-2026-74713)

Summary: CVE-2026-74713 kernel: vhost_iotlb: bound map allocation in add_range
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's `vhost_iotlb` module. Non-retiring tables within this module can continue to allocate entries even after reaching their configured limits. This allows a local attacker or a malicious guest operating system to trigger a continuous stream of IOTLB updates, leading to unbounded memory allocation. The primary consequence is a Denial of Service (DoS) due to resource exhaustion, potentially causing system instability or crashes.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-22 15:45:43 UTC
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.