CVE-2021-28698

What it is

long running loops in grant table handling In order to properly monitor resource use, Xen maintains information on the grant mappings a domain may create to map grants offered by other domains. In the process of carrying out certain actions, Xen would iterate over all such entries, including ones which aren't in use anymore and some which may have been created but never used. If the number of entries for a given domain is large enough, this iterating of the entire table may tie up a CPU for too long, starving other domains or causing issues in the hypervisor itself. Note that a domain may map its own grants, i.e. there is no need for multiple domains to be involved here. A pair of "cooperating" guests may, however, cause the effects to be more severe.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege 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

1. 2021-08-27 19:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 03:46 UTC 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: 5.5 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2021-08-27 19:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 03:46 UTC

Exploit probability

0.3% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-835

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Xen
• Fedoraproject Fedora 33
• Fedoraproject Fedora 34
• Fedoraproject Fedora 35
• Debian Linux 11.0

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

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-2021-28698.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2021-28698. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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