CVE-2022-48763

KVM: x86: Forcibly leave nested virt when SMM state is toggled

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: June 20, 2024 at 11:13 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:16 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Forcibly leave nested virt when SMM state is toggled Forcibly leave nested virtualization operation if userspace toggles SMM state via KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS or KVM_SYNC_X86_EVENTS. If userspace forces the vCPU out of SMM while it's post-VMXON and then injects an SMI, vmx_enter_smm() will overwrite vmx->nested.smm.vmxon and end up with both vmxon=false and smm.vmxon=false, but all other nVMX state allocated. Don't attempt to gracefully handle the transition as (a) most transitions are nonsencial, e.g. forcing SMM while L2 is running, (b) there isn't sufficient information to handle all transitions, e.g. SVM wants access to the SMRAM save state, and (c) KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS must precede KVM_SET_NESTED_STATE during state restore as the latter disallows putting the vCPU into L2 if SMM is active, and disallows tagging the vCPU as being post-VMXON in SMM if SMM is not active. Abuse of KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS manifests as a WARN and memory leak in nVMX due to failure to free vmcs01's shadow VMCS, but the bug goes far beyond just a memory leak, e.g. toggling SMM on while L2 is active puts the vCPU in an architecturally impossible state. WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3606 at free_loaded_vmcs arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2665 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3606 at free_loaded_vmcs+0x158/0x1a0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2656 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 3606 Comm: syz-executor725 Not tainted 5.17.0-rc1-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 RIP: 0010:free_loaded_vmcs arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2665 [inline] RIP: 0010:free_loaded_vmcs+0x158/0x1a0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2656 Code: <0f> 0b eb b3 e8 8f 4d 9f 00 e9 f7 fe ff ff 48 89 df e8 92 4d 9f 00 Call Trace: <TASK> kvm_arch_vcpu_destroy+0x72/0x2f0 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11123 kvm_vcpu_destroy arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:441 [inline] kvm_destroy_vcpus+0x11f/0x290 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:460 kvm_free_vcpus arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11564 [inline] kvm_arch_destroy_vm+0x2e8/0x470 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11676 kvm_destroy_vm arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1217 [inline] kvm_put_kvm+0x4fa/0xb00 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1250 kvm_vm_release+0x3f/0x50 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1273 __fput+0x286/0x9f0 fs/file_table.c:311 task_work_run+0xdd/0x1a0 kernel/task_work.c:164 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:32 [inline] do_exit+0xb29/0x2a30 kernel/exit.c:806 do_group_exit+0xd2/0x2f0 kernel/exit.c:935 get_signal+0x4b0/0x28c0 kernel/signal.c:2862 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x2a9/0x1c40 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+0x17d/0x290 kernel/entry/common.c:207 __syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work kernel/entry/common.c:289 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x19/0x60 kernel/entry/common.c:300 do_syscall_64+0x42/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:86 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae </TASK>

Affected

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

v < 5.10.974.15 ≤ v < 5.10.974.15 ≤ v < 5.15.194.15 ≤ v < 5.16.54.15 ≤ v < 5.175.11 ≤ v < 5.15.195.16 ≤ v < 5.16.54.155.17 rc172e9cbdb43384ceacc49e2fb6b8c8fb7c5988778
Vendor states this is fixed in 80dbe7e9b86a392d8dffc0d9971792afc121f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in b4c0d89c92e957ecccce12e66b63875d0cc7af7e (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in e302786233e6bc512986d007c96458ccf5ca21c7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in f7e570780efc5cec9b2ed1e0472a7da14e864fdb (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4.15 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.97 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.19 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.16.5 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.17 (unaffected)

References (4)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/080dbe7e9b86a0392d8dffc00d9971792afc121f
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b4c0d89c92e957ecccce12e66b63875d0cc7af7e
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e302786233e6bc512986d007c96458ccf5ca21c7
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7e570780efc5cec9b2ed1e0472a7da14e864fdb

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
CWE-401

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