Description
Race condition in arch/x86/kvm/x86.c in the Linux kernel before 2.6.38 allows L2 guest OS users to cause a denial of service (L1 guest OS crash) via a crafted instruction that triggers an L2 emulation failure report, a similar issue to CVE-2014-7842.
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.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | linux | 2.6.38-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 2.6.38-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 2.6.38-1 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 7 | perf +18 | 3.10.0-327.el7 | RHSA-2015:2152 |
| RHEL 6 | perf +16 | 2.6.32-642.el6 | RHSA-2016:0855 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 7 | perf +11 | 3.10.0-327.el7 | ELSA-2015-2152 |
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2016:0855 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 29, 2026
- RHSA-2015:2152 Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 29, 2026
- ELSA-2015-2152 Important: kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update (Oracle Linux 7) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Nov 24, 2015
References
- RHSA-2016:0855 vendor-advisory
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=fc3a9157d3148ab91039c75423da8ef97be3e105
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinapr2016-2952096.html
- SUSE-SU-2015:0652 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20141113 CVE-2014-7842 Linux kernel: kvm: reporting emulation failures to userspace mailing-list
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjan2016-2867209.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/fc3a9157d3148ab91039c75423da8ef97be3e105
- 71363 vdb-entry
- http://mirror.linux.org.au/linux/kernel/v2.6/ChangeLog-2.6.38
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1163762