CVE-2021-47092

KVM: VMX: Always clear vmx->fail on emulation_required

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: March 4, 2024 at 06:10 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:16 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: VMX: Always clear vmx->fail on emulation_required Revert a relatively recent change that set vmx->fail if the vCPU is in L2 and emulation_required is true, as that behavior is completely bogus. Setting vmx->fail and synthesizing a VM-Exit is contradictory and wrong: (a) it's impossible to have both a VM-Fail and VM-Exit (b) vmcs.EXIT_REASON is not modified on VM-Fail (c) emulation_required refers to guest state and guest state checks are always VM-Exits, not VM-Fails. For KVM specifically, emulation_required is handled before nested exits in __vmx_handle_exit(), thus setting vmx->fail has no immediate effect, i.e. KVM calls into handle_invalid_guest_state() and vmx->fail is ignored. Setting vmx->fail can ultimately result in a WARN in nested_vmx_vmexit() firing when tearing down the VM as KVM never expects vmx->fail to be set when L2 is active, KVM always reflects those errors into L1. ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 21158 at arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:4548 nested_vmx_vmexit+0x16bd/0x17e0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:4547 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 21158 Comm: syz-executor.1 Not tainted 5.16.0-rc3-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 RIP: 0010:nested_vmx_vmexit+0x16bd/0x17e0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:4547 Code: <0f> 0b e9 2e f8 ff ff e8 57 b3 5d 00 0f 0b e9 00 f1 ff ff 89 e9 80 Call Trace: vmx_leave_nested arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:6220 [inline] nested_vmx_free_vcpu+0x83/0xc0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:330 vmx_free_vcpu+0x11f/0x2a0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:6799 kvm_arch_vcpu_destroy+0x6b/0x240 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:10989 kvm_vcpu_destroy+0x29/0x90 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:441 kvm_free_vcpus arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11426 [inline] kvm_arch_destroy_vm+0x3ef/0x6b0 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11545 kvm_destroy_vm arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1189 [inline] kvm_put_kvm+0x751/0xe40 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1220 kvm_vcpu_release+0x53/0x60 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:3489 __fput+0x3fc/0x870 fs/file_table.c:280 task_work_run+0x146/0x1c0 kernel/task_work.c:164 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:32 [inline] do_exit+0x705/0x24f0 kernel/exit.c:832 do_group_exit+0x168/0x2d0 kernel/exit.c:929 get_signal+0x1740/0x2120 kernel/signal.c:2852 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x9c/0x730 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c:868 handle_signal_work kernel/entry/common.c:148 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:172 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x191/0x220 kernel/entry/common.c:207 __syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work kernel/entry/common.c:289 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x2e/0x70 kernel/entry/common.c:300 do_syscall_64+0x53/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:86 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.15 ≤ v < 5.15.125.15 ≤ v < 5.165.16 rc15.16 rc25.16 rc35.16 rc45.16 rc55.16 rc6c8607e4a086fae05efe5bffb47c5199c65e7216e
Vendor states this is fixed in a80dfc025924024d2c61a4c1b8ef62b2fce76a04 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in e4e4e7cb229821cd215031abc47efdab5486a67c (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.12 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.16 (unaffected)

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (2)

ExploitMailing ListPatch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a80dfc025924024d2c61a4c1b8ef62b2fce76a04
ExploitMailing ListPatch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e4e4e7cb229821cd215031abc47efdab5486a67c

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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