CVE-2026-45944

Technical Description

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

iommu/vt-d: Clear Present bit before tearing down context entry

When tearing down a context entry, the current implementation zeros the

entire 128-bit entry using multiple 64-bit writes. This creates a window

where the hardware can fetch a "torn" entry — where some fields are

already zeroed while the 'Present' bit is still set — leading to

unpredictable behavior or spurious faults.

While x86 provides strong write ordering, the compiler may reorder writes

to the two 64-bit halves of the context entry. Even without compiler

reordering, the hardware fetch is not guaranteed to be atomic with

respect to multiple CPU writes.

Align with the "Guidance to Software for Invalidations" in the VT-d spec

(Section 6.5.3.3) by implementing the recommended ownership handshake:

1. Clear only the 'Present' (P) bit of the context entry first to

signal the transition of ownership from hardware to software.

2. Use dma_wmb() to ensur

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Affected Products

References