Description
The netback driver in Xen, when using certain Linux versions that do not allow sleeping in softirq context, allows local guest administrators to cause a denial of service ("scheduling while atomic" error and host crash) via a malformed packet, which causes a mutex to be taken when trying to disable the interface.
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 | 3.13.10-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 3.13.10-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 3.13.10-1 | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | linux | 3.13.0-27.50 | USN-2226-1 |
Advisories 1
- USN-2226-1 linux vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 22, 2026
References
- http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-90.html
- [oss-security] 20140324 Re: Xen Security Advisory 90 - Linux netback crash trying to disable due to malformed packet mailing-list
- 66386 vdb-entry
- [oss-security] 20140324 Xen Security Advisory 90 - Linux netback crash trying to disable due to malformed packet mailing-list
- 1029949 vdb-entry