The Intel EPT paging code uses an optimization to defer flushing of any cached EPT state until the p2m lock is dropped, so that multiple modifications done under the same locked region only issue a single flush. Freeing of paging structures however is not deferred until the flushing is done, and can result in freed pages transiently being present in cached state. Such stale entries can point to memory ranges not owned by the guest, thus allowing access to unintended memory regions.
Use CWE-367, Xen vendor hub and Xen product page to widen CVE-2026-23554 into its surrounding weakness, vendor, and product context.
Compare it with CVE-2025-58143, CVE-2025-58142 and CVE-2025-27466 for nearby disclosures in the same product family.