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Medium · 5.5 CVE-2023-53208 EUVD-2023-59875GHSA-2h47-q9f6-8gx7

KVM: nSVM: Load L1's TSC multiplier based on L1 state, not L2 state

Published Sep 15, 2025 · Updated May 11, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-6.5 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.11 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-6.5 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.11 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-6.5 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.15 Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.11 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.5 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oem-6.11 Package: linux-oem-6.5 Package: linux-oem-6.8 Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-oracle-6.5 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-riscv-6.5 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-starfive-6.5 Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: nSVM: Load L1's TSC multiplier based on L1 state, not L2 state

When emulating nested VM-Exit, load L1's TSC multiplier if L1's desired
ratio doesn't match the current ratio, not if the ratio L1 is using for
L2 diverges from the default. Functionally, the end result is the same
as KVM will run L2 with L1's multiplier if L2's multiplier is the default,
i.e. checking that L1's multiplier is loaded is equivalent to checking if
L2 has a non-default multiplier.

However, the assertion that TSC scaling is exposed to L1 is flawed, as
userspace can trigger the WARN at will by writing the MSR and then
updating guest CPUID to hide the feature (modifying guest CPUID is
allowed anytime before KVM_RUN). E.g. hacking KVM's state_test
selftest to do

vcpu_set_msr(vcpu, MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO, 0);
vcpu_clear_cpuid_feature(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_TSCRATEMSR);

after restoring state in a new VM+vCPU yields an endless supply of:

------------[ cut here ]------------
WARNING: CPU: 10 PID: 206939 at arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c:1105
nested_svm_vmexit+0x6af/0x720 [kvm_amd]
Call Trace:
nested_svm_exit_handled+0x102/0x1f0 [kvm_amd]
svm_handle_exit+0xb9/0x180 [kvm_amd]
kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x1eab/0x2570 [kvm]
kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4c9/0x5b0 [kvm]
? trace_hardirqs_off+0x4d/0xa0
__se_sys_ioctl+0x7a/0xc0
__x64_sys_ioctl+0x21/0x30
do_syscall_64+0x41/0x90
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd

Unlike the nested VMRUN path, hoisting the svm->tsc_scaling_enabled check
into the if-statement is wrong as KVM needs to ensure L1's multiplier is
loaded in the above scenario. Alternatively, the WARN_ON() could simply
be deleted, but that would make KVM's behavior even more subtle, e.g. it's
not immediately obvious why it's safe to write MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO when
checking only tsc_ratio_msr.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.16 6.1.54

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 6.5.6-1 —
Debian 13 linux 6.5.6-1 —
Debian 12 linux 6.1.55-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-intel +9 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +32 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +28 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
RHEL 9 bpftool 7.3.0-427.13.1.el9_4 RHSA-2024:2394
RHEL 9 rv +64 5.14.0-427.13.1.el9_4 RHSA-2024:2394
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-64kb +6 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4057-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-azure +2 6.4.0-150700.20.18.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4132-1
SLES 15 SP7 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1.150700.17.15.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4057-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-64kb +6 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03600-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-azure +2 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03634-1
SLES 15 SP6 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1.150600.12.32.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03600-1
Show 6 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-35.1.21.12 SUSE-SU-2025:20861-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-37.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20898-1
SLE Micro 6.1 kernel-source +2 6.4.0-35.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20861-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-35.1.21.12 SUSE-SU-2025:20851-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-rt +1 6.4.0-37.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20870-1
SLE Micro 6.0 kernel-source +2 6.4.0-35.1 SUSE-SU-2025:20851-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-default 6.4.0-150700.53.22.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4057-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_6 1-150700.1.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4141-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_6 1-150700.15.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4057-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-default 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03600-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_16 1-150600.1.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:3751-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_16 1-150600.13.3.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03600-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 kernel-rt +2 6.4.0-150700.7.22.1 SUSE-SU-2025:4141-1
SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP6 kernel-rt +3 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 SUSE-SU-2025:3751-1
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Leap 15.6 dtb-aarch64 +10 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03600-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-azure +2 6.4.0-150600.8.52.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03634-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-default-base 6.4.0-150600.23.73.1.150600.12.32.1 SUSE-SU-2025:03600-1
openSUSE Leap 15.6 kernel-rt +3 6.4.0-150600.10.55.1 SUSE-SU-2025:3751-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 kernel-livepatch-6.1.55-75.123 1.0-0.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2023-356
Amazon Linux 2023 perf +12 6.1.55-75.123.amzn2023 ALAS2023-2023-356

Advisories 13

References