Description
The WRMSR processing functionality in the KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 3.17.2 does not properly handle the writing of a non-canonical address to a model-specific register, which allows guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host OS crash) by leveraging guest OS privileges, related to the wrmsr_interception function in arch/x86/kvm/svm.c and the handle_wrmsr function in arch/x86/kvm/vmx.c.
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 | 3.16.7-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 3.16.7-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 3.16.7-1 | — |
| Debian 7 | linux | 3.2.63-2+deb7u1 | DSA-3060-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | linux | 3.13.0-39.66 | USN-2395-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Rhel Virtualization 5 | kvm +4 | 83-270.el5_11 | RHSA-2015:0869 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 7 | dtrace-modules-3.8.13-68.el6uek | 0.4.3-4.el6 | ELSA-2015-3012 |
| Oracle Linux 7 | dtrace-modules-3.8.13-68.el7uek | 0.4.3-4.el7 | ELSA-2015-3012 |
| Oracle Linux 7 | kernel-uek +5 | 3.8.13-68.el7uek | ELSA-2015-3012 |
Advisories 4
- RHSA-2015:0869 Red Hat Security Advisory: kvm security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 28, 2026
- USN-2395-1 linux vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 22, 2026
- DSA-3060-1 linux - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- ELSA-2015-3012 Important: Unbreakable Enterprise kernel security and bugfix update (Oracle Linux 7) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Mar 19, 2015
References
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1144883
- USN-2491-1 vendor-advisory
- USN-2418-1 vendor-advisory
- 70742 vdb-entry
- USN-2417-1 vendor-advisory
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/854e8bb1aa06c578c2c9145fa6bfe3680ef63b23
- DSA-3060 vendor-advisory
- RHSA-2015:0869 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SU-2015:0481 vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2015:0566 vendor-advisory
- USN-2394-1 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20141024 kvm issues mailing-list
- http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=854e8bb1aa06c578c2c9145fa6bfe3680ef63b23