Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
perf/x86/intel: KVM: Mask PEBS_ENABLE loaded for guest with vCPU's value.
When generating the MSR_IA32_PEBS_ENABLE value that will be loaded on
VM-Entry to a KVM guest, mask the value with the vCPU's desired PEBS_ENABLE
value. Consulting only the host kernel's host vs. guest masks results in
running the guest with PEBS enabled even when the guest doesn't want to use
PEBS. Because KVM uses perf events to proxy the guest virtual PMU, simply
looking at exclude_host can't differentiate between events created by host
userspace, and events created by KVM on behalf of the guest.
Running the guest with PEBS unexpectedly enabled typically manifests as
crashes due to a near-infinite stream of #PFs. E.g. if the guest hasn't
written MSR_IA32_DS_AREA, the CPU will hit page faults on address '0' when
trying to record PEBS events.
The issue is most easily reproduced by running `perf kvm top` from before
commit 7b100989b4f6 ("perf evlist: Remove __evlist__add_default") (after
which, `perf kvm top` effectively stopped using PEBS). The userspace side
of perf creates a guest-only PEBS event, which intel_guest_get_msrs()
misconstrues a guest-*owned* PEBS event.
Arguably, this is a userspace bug, as enabling PEBS on guest-only events
simply cannot work, and userspace can kill VMs in many other ways (there
is no danger to the host). However, even if this is considered to be bad
userspace behavior, there's zero downside to perf/KVM restricting PEBS to
guest-owned events.
Note, commit 854250329c02 ("KVM: x86/pmu: Disable guest PEBS temporarily
in two rare situations") fixed the case where host userspace is profiling
KVM *and* userspace, but missed the case where userspace is profiling only
KVM.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 6.0 | 6.1.138 |
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 | 6.12.29-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | linux | 6.12.29-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | linux | 6.1.140-1 | DSA-5925-1 |
| Debian 11 | linux-6.1 | 6.1.140-1~deb11u1 | DLA-4271-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Nvidia-BlueField 24.04 LTS | linux-bluefield | 6.8.0-1016.20 | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | linux-azure-fde | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.04 | linux | 6.14.0-24.24 | USN-7649-1 |
| Ubuntu 25.04 | linux-aws +2 | 6.14.0-1009.9 | USN-7665-1, USN-7649-2, USN-7649-1 |
| Ubuntu 25.04 | linux-azure | 6.14.0-1010.10 | USN-7721-1 |
| Ubuntu 25.04 | linux-gcp | 6.14.0-1011.11 | USN-7649-1 |
| Ubuntu 25.04 | linux-realtime | 6.14.0-1006.6 | USN-7649-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux | 6.8.0-100.100 | USN-8028-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws +1 | 6.8.0-1046.49 | USN-8028-5 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-aws-6.14 +1 | 6.14.0-1009.9~24.04.1 | USN-7665-2 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure | 6.8.0-1046.52 | USN-8074-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde | 6.8.0-1046.53 | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-nvidia | 6.8.0-1039.42 | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gcp | 6.8.0-1047.50 | USN-8031-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gcp-6.14 | 6.14.0-1011.11~24.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gke | 6.8.0-1043.48 | USN-8031-3 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-gkeop | 6.8.0-1030.33 | USN-8028-5 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-ibm | 6.8.0-1044.44 | USN-8028-8 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-intel +10 | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-lowlatency | 6.8.0-100.100.1 | USN-8052-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-lowlatency | 6.8.0-1046.49.1 | USN-8028-7 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-nvidia-tegra | 6.8.0-1020.20 | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-oem-6.14 | 6.14.0-1007.7 | USN-7650-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-oracle | 6.8.0-1043.44 | USN-8028-5 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi | 6.8.0-1047.51 | USN-8028-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-riscv-6.14 | 6.14.0-24.24.1~24.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | linux-xilinx | 6.8.0-1023.24 | USN-8052-2 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-aws-6.8 +1 | 6.8.0-1046.49~22.04.1 | USN-8028-5 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-azure-6.8 | 6.8.0-1051.57~22.04.1 | USN-8126-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.8 | 6.8.0-1046.53~22.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-gcp-6.8 | 6.8.0-1047.50~22.04.2 | USN-8031-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-hwe-6.8 +1 | 6.8.0-100.100~22.04.1 | USN-8028-6 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-ibm-6.8 | 6.8.0-1044.44~22.04.1 | USN-8028-8 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 | 6.8.0-100.100.1~22.04.1 | USN-8028-6 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-oracle-6.8 | 6.8.0-1043.44~22.04.1 | USN-8028-5 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | linux-riscv +32 | No fix yet | — |
Show 6 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | 6.8.0-2037.38 | USN-8028-3 |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-realtime | 6.8.1-1041.42 | USN-8028-3 |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 24.04 LTS | linux-realtime-6.14 | 6.14.0-1010.10~24.04.1 | — |
| Ubuntu Pro Realtime 22.04 LTS | linux-realtime-6.8 | 6.8.1-1041.42~22.04.1 | USN-8028-2 |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS | linux-aws-fips | 6.8.0-1046.49+fips1 | USN-8028-4 |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS | linux-azure-fips | 6.8.0-1046.52+fips1 | USN-8074-2 |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS | linux-fips | 6.8.0-100.100+fips1 | USN-8028-4 |
| Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 24.04 LTS | linux-gcp-fips | 6.8.0-1047.50+fips1 | USN-8031-2 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP7 | kernel-64kb +6 | 6.4.0-150700.53.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02307-1 |
| SLES 15 SP7 | kernel-azure +2 | 6.4.0-150700.20.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02254-1 |
| SLES 15 SP7 | kernel-default-base | 6.4.0-150700.53.6.1.150700.17.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02307-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | kernel-64kb +3 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | kernel-azure +2 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02249-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | kernel-coco +3 | 6.4.0-15061.28.coco15sp6.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02923-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | kernel-default-base | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5.150600.12.26.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| SLES 15 SP6 | kernel-docs +1 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
Show 6 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLE Micro 6.1 | kernel-rt +1 | 6.4.0-33.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:20421-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.0 | kernel-rt +1 | 6.4.0-33.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:20413-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-default | 6.4.0-150700.53.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02307-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7-RT_Update_2 | 1-150700.1.5.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02333-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP7 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP7_Update_2 | 1-150700.15.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02307-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-default | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6-RT_Update_13 | 1-150600.1.5.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02335-1 |
| SLE Live Patching 15 SP6 | kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP6_Update_13 | 1-150600.13.6.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP7 | kernel-rt +2 | 6.4.0-150700.7.8.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02333-1 |
| SUSE Real Time Module 15 SP6 | kernel-rt +3 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02335-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | dtb-aarch64 +2 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.3 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-64kb +5 | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-azure +2 | 6.4.0-150600.8.43.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02249-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-default | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-default-base | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.5.150600.12.26.4 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-obs-qa | 6.4.0-150600.23.60.2 | SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | kernel-rt +3 | 6.4.0-150600.10.44.1 | SUSE-SU-2025:02335-1 |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2023 | kernel-livepatch-6.12.29-33.102 +1 | 1.0-0.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2025-1050, ALAS2023-2025-994 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf +14 | 6.1.140-154.222.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2025-1050, ALAS2023-2025-994 |
| Amazon Linux 2023 | perf6.12 +5 | 6.12.29-33.102.amzn2023 | ALAS2023-2025-994 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 9 | kernel-uek +34 | 6.12.0-101.33.4.3.el10uek | ELSA-2025-20530, ELSA-2025-20480 |
Advisories 38
- WID-SEC-2025-1114 Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Nov 12, 2026
- USN-8028-5 linux-aws, linux-aws-6.8, linux-gkeop, linux-nvidia, linux-nvidia-6.8, linux-oracle, linux-oracle-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8126-1 linux-azure-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-8 linux-ibm, linux-ibm-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-6 linux-hwe-6.8, linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8052-1 linux-lowlatency vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8052-2 linux-xilinx vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8074-2 linux-azure-fips vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8074-1 linux-azure vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8031-3 linux-gcp, linux-gke vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-1 linux, linux-raspi vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-4 linux-aws-fips, linux-fips vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-3 linux-realtime, linux-raspi-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-7 linux-nvidia-lowlatency vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8028-2 linux-realtime-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8031-2 linux-gcp-fips vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-8031-1 linux-gcp-6.8 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-7665-2 linux-aws-6.14 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- USN-7650-1 linux-oem-6.14 vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Nov 3, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:20421-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:20413-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02335-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02254-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02333-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02307-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Mar 23, 2026
- DLA-4271-1 linux-6.1 - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-5925-1 linux - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02249-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- USN-7665-1 linux-oracle vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Feb 4, 2026
- USN-7649-2 linux-aws vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02923-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- USN-7721-1 linux-azure vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Feb 4, 2026
- USN-7649-1 linux, linux-gcp, linux-raspi, linux-realtime vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2025:02538-1 Security update for the Linux Kernel SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- ALAS2023-2025-994 Important: kernel6.12 security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Aug 26, 2025
- ALAS2023-2025-1050 Important: kernel security update (Amazon Linux 2023) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Aug 26, 2025
- ELSA-2025-20530 Important: Unbreakable Enterprise kernel security update (Oracle Linux 9) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Aug 18, 2025
- ELSA-2025-20480 Important: Unbreakable Enterprise kernel security update (Oracle Linux 9) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Jul 17, 2025
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/160153cf9e4aa875ad086cc094ce34aac8e13d63
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/34b6fa11431aef71045ae5a00d90a7d630597eda
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/44ee0afc9d1e7a7c1932698de01362ed80cfc4b5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/86aa62895fc2fb7ab09d7ca40fae8ad09841f66b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/58f6217e5d0132a9f14e401e62796916aa055c1b