Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2021-47092

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.3%

Published

Mar 4, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A flaw in the Linux kernel's handling of nested virtual machines could cause unexpected errors or instability when running certain guest workloads, fixed by a straightforward code correction in newer kernels.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Low Privilege
Complexity
Moderate
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Other
Remediation
Patch
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Medium

What it actually does

Incorrectly setting vmx->fail when emulation_required is true for an L2 vCPU creates contradictory VM-Fail and VM-Exit conditions, violating VMCS semantics and triggering an unexpected WARN in nested_vmx_vmexit during VM teardown.

Why it matters to the business

Nested virtualization workloads may experience spurious kernel warnings, VM instability, or crashes during guest teardown, increasing operational overhead and risk for environments relying on KVM nested virtualization.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker with the ability to run untrusted code inside a nested guest triggers guest state that requires emulation while L2 is active; the flawed path sets vmx->fail, which is later ignored but causes the WARN when KVM tears down the vCPU.

How to fix it

Update to a Linux kernel containing the fix that always clears vmx->fail on emulation_required; apply the stable backport appropriate to the running kernel version.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the patch is present by inspecting arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c for the unconditional clearing of vmx->fail before emulation handling; re-run nested virtualization test suites that exercise L2 teardown paths.

Typical attack path

  1. Obtain execution inside an L2 guest under KVM/VMX nested virtualization
  2. Force guest state that sets emulation_required to true
  3. Trigger nested VM exit handling path in __vmx_handle_exit
  4. Observe resulting WARN or VM instability during vCPU destruction

How to detect it

Search kernel logs for the exact WARN string from nested_vmx_vmexit at arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c:4547 or 4548; correlate with syz-executor or similar fuzzer activity and unexpected VM destruction traces.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel upgrade on any host running nested KVM guests
  • Monitor nested virtualization usage and schedule maintenance windows
  • Add kernel version checks to configuration management and vulnerability scanning

The record

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 packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:12 linux 0 5.15.15-1
Debian:13 linux 0 5.15.15-1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 5.4.0-9.12
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15 0 5.15.0-1014.18~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.4.0-1006.6
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15 0 5.15.0-1007.8~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 0 5.15.0-1019.24~20.04.1.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 5.4.0-1007.10
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15 0 5.15.0-1006.9~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.4.0-1008.9
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.2
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.4.0-1003.4
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15 0 5.15.0-1033.36~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 5.4.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.4.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15 0 5.15.0-1007.9~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.4.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15 0 5.15.0-1015.17~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.4.0-1020.24
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux 0 5.13.0-19.19
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.13.0-1005.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5 0 6.5.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.13.0-1006.7
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5 0 6.5.0-1007.7~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 5.15.0-1019.24.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.13.0-1005.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5 0 6.5.0-1010.10~22.04.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.15.0-1001.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5 0 6.5.0-14.14~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 5.15.0-1004.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.13.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 5.15.0-22.22
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 0 6.5.0-14.14.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 5.15.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 6.5.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-5.17 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.1 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.5 0 6.5.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.13.0-1008.10
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 6.5.0-1013.13~22.04.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.13.0-1008.9
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.5 0 6.5.0-17.17.1.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.5 0 6.5.0-1007.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.15.0-1022.26
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.5.0-9.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.5.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1003.5
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.5.0-1009.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1009.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.5.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.5.0-1005.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 4.15.0-2000.4
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 4.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.15.0-1027.32
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 4.15.0-2013.14
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.4.0-1022.22+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.4.0-1026.30
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:16.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.4.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 4.15.0-2000.4
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 4.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.15.0-1011.12
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 4.15.0-1001.1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.4.0-1022.22+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.4.0-1007.8
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips1

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