CVE-2026-79609

x86: XPTI may break on huge-memory systems

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: October 13, 2026 at 03:44 PM UTC
Updated: October 20, 2026 at 06:17 PM UTC
Products not identified yet

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Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.1%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

XPTI (Xen Page Table Isolation) was introduced to mitigate Meltdown (CVE-2017-5754, one aspect of XSA-254). This involves copying 64-bit PV guest page table entries from guest-chosen root page tables to the Xen- chosen one which is in actual use by hardware. To read the guest root page table, the directmap is used. PV guests, however, have a directmap which may not cover all memory; in particular this is the case if any memory extends beyond the 5 TiB (CONFIG_BIGMEM=y: 3.5 TiB) address boundary.

Affected

We have no canonical product record for this CVE. The source names may not have matched any product.

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

References (2)

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8.8HIGHCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusAWAITING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-284

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