How severe is CVE-2026-74311?

CVE-2026-74311 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-74311?

CVE-2026-74311 affects the following packages: Kernel (Linux). Ecosystems affected: Linux.

How do I fix CVE-2026-74311?

Update Kernel to 6.18.40 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-74311 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2026-74311 in my Linux dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Kernel. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

How do I mitigate CVE-2026-74311 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

How does O3 Security protect against CVE-2026-74311?

O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-74311 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is CVE-2026-74311 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2026-74311 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

When was CVE-2026-74311 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2026-74311 was published on August 15, 2026 and was last updated on August 18, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐧

🐧 Linux

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2026-74311

HIGH

CVE-2026-74311 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in Kernel. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-74311 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.

virtio: rtc: tear down old virtqueues before restore

Published

Aug 15, 2026

Updated

Aug 18, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Aug 18, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐧Kernel

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Linux packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

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

virtio: rtc: tear down old virtqueues before restore

virtio_device_restore() resets the device and restores the negotiated features before calling ->restore(). viortc_freeze() intentionally leaves the existing virtqueues in place so the alarm queue can still wake the system, but viortc_restore() immediately calls viortc_init_vqs() without first deleting those old queues.

If virtqueue reinitialization fails on virtio-pci, the transport error path can run vp_del_vqs() against a newly allocated vp_dev->vqs array while vdev->vqs still contains the old virtqueues. vp_del_vqs() then looks up queue state through the new array and can dereference a NULL info pointer in vp_del_vq(), crashing the guest kernel during restore.

This can also happen during a non-faulty reinitialization, when one of the vp_find_vqs_msix() attempts is unsuccessful before a later attempt would succeed.

Delete the stale virtqueues before rebuilding them. If restore fails before virtio_device_ready(), reuse the remove path to stop the device. Once the device is ready, return errors directly instead of deleting the virtqueues again.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐧Linux	`Kernel`	≥ 6.16.0&&< 6.18.40	6.18.40

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for Kernel. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update Kernel to 6.18.40 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-74311 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-74311 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to CVE-2026-74311. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: virtio: rtc: tear down old virtqueues before restore virtio_device_restore() resets the device and restores the negotiated features before calling ->restore(). viortc_freeze() intentionally leaves the existing virtqueues in place so the alarm queue can still wake the system, but viortc_restore() immediately calls viortc_init_vqs() without first deleting those old queues. If virtqueue reinitialization fails on virtio-pci, the transport error path can run vp_del_vqs() against a newly allocated vp_dev->vqs array while vdev->vq

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2026-74311 in your dependencies?

O3 detects CVE-2026-74311 across Linux dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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