Description
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.12.x allowing x86 guest OS users to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) because certain bit iteration is mishandled. In a number of places bitmaps are being used by the hypervisor to track certain state. Iteration over all bits involves functions which may misbehave in certain corner cases: On x86 accesses to bitmaps with a compile time known size of 64 may incur undefined behavior, which may in particular result in infinite loops. A malicious guest may cause a hypervisor crash or hang, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). All versions of Xen are vulnerable. x86 systems with 64 or more nodes are vulnerable (there might not be any such systems that Xen would run on). x86 systems with less than 64 nodes are not vulnerable.
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 | 4.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | xen | 4.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | xen | 4.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1 | — |
| Debian 10 | xen | 4.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1~deb10u1 | DSA-4602-1 |
| Debian 9 | xen | 4.8.5.final+shim4.10.4-1+deb9u12 | DSA-4602-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | xen | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | xen | No fix yet | — |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP1 | xen | 4.12.1_06-3.9.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3338-1 |
| SLES 15 | xen | 4.10.4_08-3.28.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3309-1 |
| SLES 12 SP5 | xen | 4.12.1_10-3.8.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3296-1 |
| SLES 12 SP4 | xen | 4.11.3_02-2.20.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3310-1 |
| SLES 12 SP3 | xen | 4.9.4_06-3.59.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 |
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 12 SP5 | xen | 4.12.1_10-3.8.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3296-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP4 | xen | 4.11.3_02-2.20.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3310-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP3 | xen | 4.9.4_06-3.59.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8 | xen | 4.9.4_06-3.59.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 8 | xen | 4.9.4_06-3.59.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 |
| SUSE HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | xen | 4.9.4_06-3.59.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 5 | xen | 4.9.4_06-3.59.1 | SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap 15.1 | xen | 4.12.1_06-lp151.2.9.1 | openSUSE-SU-2020:0011-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.22 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.21 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.20 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
Show 12 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.19 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.18 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.17 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.16 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.15 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.14 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.13 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.12 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.11 | xen | 4.13.0-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.10 | xen | 4.12.2-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.9 | xen | 4.11.3-r1 | — |
| Alpine v3.8 | xen | 4.10.4-r2 | — |
Advisories 7
- DSA-4602-1 xen - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2019:3338-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2020:0011-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2019:3309-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2019:3297-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2019:3310-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2019:3296-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- https://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-307.html
- FEDORA-2019-6aad703290 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2019-2e12bd3a9a vendor-advisory
- openSUSE-SU-2020:0011 vendor-advisory
- DSA-4602 vendor-advisory
- 20200114 [SECURITY] [DSA 4602-1] xen security update mailing-list
- GLSA-202003-56 vendor-advisory