Description
An issue (known as XSA-212) was discovered in Xen, with fixes available for 4.8.x, 4.7.x, 4.6.x, 4.5.x, and 4.4.x. The earlier XSA-29 fix introduced an insufficient check on XENMEM_exchange input, allowing the caller to drive hypervisor memory accesses outside of the guest provided input/output arrays.
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 | xen | 4.8.1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | xen | 4.8.1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | xen | 4.8.1-1 | — |
| Debian 8 | xen | 4.4.1-9+deb8u9 | DSA-3847-1 |
| Debian 7 | xen | 4.1.6.lts1-6 | DLA-907-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | xen | 4.6.5-0ubuntu1.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 14.04 LTS | xen | 4.4.2-0ubuntu0.14.04.11 | — |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 12 SP2 | xen | 4.7.2_02-36.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:0983-1 |
| SLES 12 | xen | 4.4.4_16-22.36.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1080-1 |
| SLES 11 SP4 | xen | 4.4.4_16-54.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1081-1 |
| SLES 11 SP3 | xen | 4.2.5_21-38.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1058-1 |
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 12 SP2 | xen | 4.7.2_02-36.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:0983-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 | xen | 4.4.4_16-22.36.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1080-1 |
| SLES for SAP 11 SP4 | xen | 4.4.4_16-54.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1081-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 5 | xen | 4.2.5_21-38.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1058-1 |
| SUSE Manager Proxy 2.1 | xen | 4.2.5_21-38.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1058-1 |
| SUSE Manager 2.1 | xen | 4.2.5_21-38.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1058-1 |
| SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Sale 11 SP3 | xen | 4.2.5_21-38.1 | SUSE-SU-2017:1058-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.22 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.21 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.20 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
Show 16 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.19 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.18 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.17 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.16 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.15 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.14 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.13 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.12 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.11 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.10 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.9 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.8 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.7 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.6 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.5 | xen | 4.7.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.4 | xen | 4.6.3-r8 | — |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Xen - Broken Check in 'memory_exchange()' Permits PV Guest Breakout EDB-41870 · local · Apr 11, 2017 · verified
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 6
- DLA-907-1 xen - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-3847-1 xen - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2017:1058-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2017:1081-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2017:0983-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2017:1080-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- 97375 vdb-entry
- http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-212.html
- http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/04/04/3
- https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-secpack/blob/master/QSBs/qsb-029-2017.txt
- DSA-3847 vendor-advisory
- 41870 exploit
- https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2017/04/pandavirtualization-exploiting-xen.html
- 1038223 vdb-entry