CVE-2020-25601: Medium severity xen xapi vulnerability

Published Sep 23, 2020
·
Updated

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. There is a lack of preemption in evtchnreset() / evtchndestroy(). In particular, the FIFO event channel model allows guests to have a large number of event channels active at a time. Closing all of these (when resetting all event channels or when cleaning up after the guest) may take extended periods of time. So far, there was no arrangement for preemption at suitable intervals, allowing a CPU to spend an almost unbounded amount of time in the processing of these operations. Malicious or buggy guest kernels can mount a Denial of Service (DoS) attack affecting the entire system. All Xen versions are vulnerable in principle. Whether versions 4.3 and older are vulnerable depends on underlying hardware characteristics.

Affected Software

7 affected componentsFixes available
XEN Xen<=4.14.0
Debian Debian Linux=10.0
Fedoraproject Fedora=31
Fedoraproject Fedora=32
Fedoraproject Fedora=33
openSUSE Leap=15.2
debian/xen
4.14.6-14.14.5+94-ge49571868d-14.17.5+23-ga4e5191dc0-1+deb12u14.17.5+23-ga4e5191dc0-14.20.0-14.20.0+68-g35cb38b222-1

Event History

Sep 23, 2020
CVE Published
via MITRE·09:14 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·09:14 PM
Description
Jan 11, 2024
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·11:46 PM
Description
Sep 16, 2024
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·02:25 AM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the vulnerability ID of this issue?

The vulnerability ID is CVE-2020-25601.

2

What is the severity of CVE-2020-25601?

The severity of CVE-2020-25601 is not mentioned in the provided information.

3

What is the affected software?

The affected software is Xen versions up to 4.14.x.

4

How does the vulnerability occur?

The vulnerability occurs due to a lack of preemption in evtchn_reset() / evtchn_destroy().

5

How do I fix this vulnerability?

To fix this vulnerability, update Xen to version 4.11.3+24- or apply the recommended patch for the specific distribution/operating system.

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