CVE-2018-15468
What it is
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.11.x. The DEBUGCTL MSR contains several debugging features, some of which virtualise cleanly, but some do not. In particular, Branch Trace Store is not virtualised by the processor, and software has to be careful to configure it suitably not to lock up the core. As a result, it must only be available to fully trusted guests. Unfortunately, in the case that vPMU is disabled, all value checking was skipped, allowing the guest to choose any MSR_DEBUGCTL setting it likes. A malicious or buggy guest administrator (on Intel x86 HVM or PVH) can lock up the entire host, causing a Denial of Service.
At a glance
- Exploitability
- Can be exploited locally on the machine with an admin-level account. High risk of service disruption.
- Exploit odds
- 0.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Fix
- A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.
Timeline
- PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
- Last updatedMost recent change to the record
Why it ranks here
- Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
- Exploit odds: 0.3% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
- Severity: 6.0 MEDIUM (CVSS).
- Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.
Details
- Published
- Last modified
- Exploit probability
- 0.3% · EPSS, next 30 days
- Weakness
- CWE-863 · Incorrect authorization
- Record status
- Modified
Affected
- Xen ≤ 4.11.0
Attack profile CVSS 3.0 · 6.0
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Raw vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Is it in your code?
Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.
Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2018-15468.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2018-15468. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.
