Race Condition Affecting xen package, versions <4.14.0-r1


Severity

Recommended
0.0
medium
0
10

Snyk's Security Team recommends NVD's CVSS assessment

    Threat Intelligence

    EPSS
    0.05% (16th percentile)

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  • Snyk ID SNYK-ALPINE320-XEN-7012424
  • published 23 May 2024
  • disclosed 23 Sep 2020

How to fix?

Upgrade Alpine:3.20 xen to version 4.14.0-r1 or higher.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream xen package and not the xen package as distributed by Alpine. See How to fix? for Alpine:3.20 relevant fixed versions and status.

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. There is a race condition when migrating timers between x86 HVM vCPUs. When migrating timers of x86 HVM guests between its vCPUs, the locking model used allows for a second vCPU of the same guest (also operating on the timers) to release a lock that it didn't acquire. The most likely effect of the issue is a hang or crash of the hypervisor, i.e., a Denial of Service (DoS). All versions of Xen are affected. Only x86 systems are vulnerable. Arm systems are not vulnerable. Only x86 HVM guests can leverage the vulnerability. x86 PV and PVH cannot leverage the vulnerability. Only guests with more than one vCPU can exploit the vulnerability.

CVSS Scores

version 3.1
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NVD

Recommended
4.7 medium
  • Attack Vector (AV)
    Local
  • Attack Complexity (AC)
    High
  • Privileges Required (PR)
    Low
  • User Interaction (UI)
    None
  • Scope (S)
    Unchanged
  • Confidentiality (C)
    None
  • Integrity (I)
    None
  • Availability (A)
    High
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SUSE

6.5 medium