Quick answer
Direct answer
Risk scores
| CVSS metric | What it means |
|---|---|
| Attack vector (AV:L) | Local access needed |
| Attack complexity (AC:L) | Low complexity |
| Privileges required (PR:H) | High privileges required |
| User interaction (UI:N) | No user interaction |
| Scope (S:C) | Scope changed: impact spreads beyond the component |
| Confidentiality (C:H) | High confidentiality impact |
| Integrity (I:H) | High integrity impact |
| Availability (A:H) | High availability impact |
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
About the affected product
CVE-2026-81627 affects the affected product. Before acting, confirm where the affected product runs in your estate, who owns it and whether it is reachable from the internet, because exposure decides real risk more than the score alone.
What the flaw is
In plain terms: A flaw was found in QEMU. The VAPIC setup hypercall in hw/i386/vapic.c does not validate that the writable RAM alias remains within the option ROM window. A privileged guest user on a Q35/KVM machine can position this alias over locked SMRAM, bypassing chipset D_LCK protection and injecting code into System Management Mode memory.
The weakness class is Out of Bounds Write. The program writes past the end of a buffer, a common path to code execution.
Based on its CVSS vector, the flaw needs local or adjacent access, needs some level of access, and needs no user interaction. Apply the vendor fix and confirm exposure on internet facing and business critical assets first.
Affected versions and timeline
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Product | the affected product |
| Affected versions | See the vendor advisory under Technical References |
| Published | Sep 18, 2026 |
| Last modified | Sep 21, 2026 |
| Added to CISA KEV | Not listed |
| Assigning CNA | secalert@redhat.com |
How to detect it
- Inventory every instance of the affected product and record the running version against the affected range above.
- Check external attack surface scans for internet facing instances of the component.
- Review logs on affected systems for unusual requests, errors or new processes around the vulnerable function.
- Confirm with an authenticated vulnerability scan once your scanner has a check for this CVE.
How to fix it
- Apply the fixed version of the affected product named in the vendor advisory.
- If patching must wait, restrict network access to the affected service and put it behind authentication or a web application firewall rule.
- Rescan after the change to prove the exposure is gone, then close the ticket.
CTEM action plan
| CTEM stage | What to do for this CVE |
|---|---|
| Scope | Add every business service that depends on the affected product to the current CTEM cycle. |
| Discover | Find all instances, including shadow and cloud deployments, and record versions and exposure. |
| Prioritize | Rank using EPSS and CVSS together with asset exposure and business impact. |
| Validate | Confirm the flaw is reachable and exploitable in your environment and that compensating controls work. |
| Mobilize | Assign the fix to the asset owner with a due date matched to the priority, then verify closure. |
CWE References
- CWE-787: Out of Bounds Write More CVEs with this weakness
Technical References
Frequently asked questions
Related CVEs
Out-of-bounds Write, Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow') vulnerability in azerothcore azerothcore-wotlk (deps/zlib modules). This vulnerability is associated with program files inflate.C. This issue affects azerothcore-wotlk: through v4.0.0.
There is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-tcp: add bounds checks in nvmet_tcp_build_pdu_iovec nvmet_tcp_build_pdu_iovec() could walk past cmd->req.sg when a PDU length or offset exceeds sg_cnt and then use bogus sg->length/offset values, leading to _copy_to_iter() GPF/KASAN. Guard sg_idx, remaining entries, and sg->length/offset before building the bvec.
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