CVE-2019-18423: High severity xen xapi vulnerability

Published Oct 31, 2019
·
Updated

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.12.x allowing ARM guest OS users to cause a denial of service via a XENMEMaddtophysmap hypercall. p2m->maxmappedgfn is used by the functions p2mresolvetranslationfault() and p2mgetentry() to sanity check guest physical frame. The rest of the code in the two functions will assume that there is a valid root table and check that with BUGON(). The function p2mgetrootpointer() will ignore the unused top bits of a guest physical frame. This means that the function p2msetentry() will alias the frame. However, p2m->maxmappedgfn will be updated using the original frame. It would be possible to set p2m->maxmappedgfn high enough to cover a frame that would lead p2mgetrootpointer() to return NULL in p2mgetentry() and p2mresolvetranslationfault(). Additionally, the sanity check on p2m->maxmappedgfn is off-by-one allowing "highest mapped + 1" to be considered valid. However, p2mgetrootpointer() will return NULL. The problem could be triggered with a specially crafted hypercall XENMEMaddtophysmap{, batch} followed by an access to an address (via hypercall or direct access) that passes the sanity check but cause p2mgetrootpointer() to return NULL. A malicious guest administrator may cause a hypervisor crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). Xen version 4.8 and newer are vulnerable. Only Arm systems are vulnerable. x86 systems are not affected.

Affected Software

7 affected componentsFixes available
debian/xen
4.11.4+107-gef32c7afa2-14.14.6-14.14.5+94-ge49571868d-14.17.2+76-ge1f9cb16e2-1~deb12u14.17.2+76-ge1f9cb16e2-1
XEN Xen>=4.8<=4.12.1
Debian Debian Linux=9.0
Debian Debian Linux=10.0
Fedoraproject Fedora=29
Fedoraproject Fedora=30
Fedoraproject Fedora=31

Event History

Oct 31, 2019
CVE Published
via MITRE·01:36 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·01:36 PM
Description

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2019-18423?

CVE-2019-18423 is classified as a denial of service vulnerability affecting ARM guest OS users in Xen.

2

How do I fix CVE-2019-18423?

To fix CVE-2019-18423, upgrade to the versions of Xen that are not affected, such as 4.12.x or later or apply patches provided by your distribution.

3

Which versions of Xen are affected by CVE-2019-18423?

CVE-2019-18423 affects Xen versions from 4.8 to 4.12.1, including specific distributions like Debian and Fedora.

4

Is CVE-2019-18423 exploitable remotely?

CVE-2019-18423 is not exploitable remotely, as it specifically targets ARM guest OS users through hypercalls.

5

What can happen if I do not mitigate CVE-2019-18423?

If CVE-2019-18423 is not mitigated, it can lead to a denial of service, resulting in crashes or instability of ARM guest operating systems.

Contact

SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
132 Wickham Terrace
Fortitude Valley,
QLD 4006, Australia
info@secalerts.co
By using SecAlerts services, you agree to our services end-user license agreement. This website is safeguarded by reCAPTCHA and governed by the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. All names, logos, and brands of products are owned by their respective owners, and any usage of these names, logos, and brands for identification purposes only does not imply endorsement. If you possess any content that requires removal, please get in touch with us.
© 2026 SecAlerts Pty Ltd.
ABN: 70 645 966 203, ACN: 645 966 203