Description
arch/x86/kvm/x86.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.36.2 does not initialize certain structure members, which allows local users to obtain potentially sensitive information from kernel stack memory via read operations on the /dev/kvm device.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 6 | perf +14 | 2.6.32-131.0.15.el6 | RHSA-2011:0542 |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Rhel Virtualization 5 | kvm +3 | 83-164.el5_5.30 | RHSA-2010:0998 |
| RHEL 6.0 EUS | perf +14 | 2.6.32-71.31.1.el6 | RHSA-2011:0883 |
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2011:0542 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 kernel security, bug fix and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- RHSA-2011:0883 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security and bug fix update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 22, 2025
- RHSA-2010:0998 Red Hat Security Advisory: kvm security and bug fix update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 22, 2025
References
- SUSE-SA:2011:004 vendor-advisory
- [kvm] 20101030 [patch v2] x86: kvm: x86: fix information leak to userland mailing-list
- 44666 vdb-entry
- [oss-security] 20101105 Re: CVE request: kernel: kvm kernel stack leakage mailing-list
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=97e69aa62f8b5d338d6cff49be09e37cc1262838
- 42932 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2011-0124 vdb-entry
- 1024912 vdb-entry
- SUSE-SA:2011:007 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2011-0298 vdb-entry
- http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.36.2
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=649920
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=virt/kvm/kvm.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=831d9d02f9522e739825a51a11e3bc5aa531a905
- [oss-security] 20101104 CVE request: kernel: kvm kernel stack leakage mailing-list
- RHSA-2010:0998 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2010-3287 vdb-entry