Description
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. Access rights of Xenstore nodes are per domid. Unfortunately, existing granted access rights are not removed when a domain is being destroyed. This means that a new domain created with the same domid will inherit the access rights to Xenstore nodes from the previous domain(s) with the same domid. Because all Xenstore entries of a guest below /local/domain/<domid> are being deleted by Xen tools when a guest is destroyed, only Xenstore entries of other guests still running are affected. For example, a newly created guest domain might be able to read sensitive information that had belonged to a previously existing guest domain. Both Xenstore implementations (C and Ocaml) are 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 | 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | xen | 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | xen | 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1 | — |
| Debian 10 | xen | 4.11.4+57-g41a822c392-2 | DSA-4812-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | xen | No fix yet | — |
| 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 SP2 | xen | 4.13.2_06-3.22.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3915-1 |
| SLES 15 SP1 | xen | 4.12.4_06-3.40.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3881-1 |
| SLES 12 SP5 | xen | 4.12.4_06-3.36.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3880-1 |
| SLES 12 SP4 | xen | 4.11.4_16-2.48.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3914-1 |
| SLES 12 SP3 | xen | 4.9.4_16-3.80.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 |
Show 15 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 12 SP2 | xen | 4.7.6_14-43.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3913-1 |
| SLES 11 SP4 | xen | 4.4.4_48-61.61.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:14578-1 |
| SLES for SAP 15 | xen | 4.10.4_24-3.53.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3916-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP5 | xen | 4.12.4_06-3.36.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3880-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP4 | xen | 4.11.4_16-2.48.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3914-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP3 | xen | 4.9.4_16-3.80.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP2 | xen | 4.7.6_14-43.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3913-1 |
| SLE HPC 15 | xen | 4.10.4_24-3.53.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3916-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 | xen | 4.11.4_16-2.48.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3914-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8 | xen | 4.9.4_16-3.80.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9 | xen | 4.11.4_16-2.48.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3914-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 8 | xen | 4.9.4_16-3.80.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7 | xen | 4.7.6_14-43.73.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3913-1 |
| SUSE HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | xen | 4.9.4_16-3.80.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 5 | xen | 4.9.4_16-3.80.1 | SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | xen | 4.15.1_01-1.2 | openSUSE-SU-2024:11520-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.2 | xen | 4.13.2_06-lp152.2.21.1 | openSUSE-SU-2020:2331-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.1 | xen | 4.12.4_06-lp151.2.36.1 | openSUSE-SU-2020:2313-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.22 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.21 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.20 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
Show 9 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.19 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.18 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.17 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.16 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.15 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.14 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.13 | xen | 4.14.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.12 | xen | 4.13.2-r3 | — |
| Alpine v3.11 | xen | 4.13.2-r3 | — |
Advisories 12
- DSA-4812-1 xen - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3880-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3913-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:14578-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3881-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2020:2331-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3916-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3945-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3915-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2020:3914-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2020:2313-1 Security update for xen SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 7, 2025
- openSUSE-SU-2024:11520-1 xen-4.15.1_01-1.2 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · May 7, 2025
References
- https://xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-322.html
- DSA-4812 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20201216 Xen Security Advisory 322 v5 (CVE-2020-29481) - Xenstore: new domains inheriting existing node permissions mailing-list
- FEDORA-2020-64859a826b vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2020-df772b417b vendor-advisory