high
8.8
CWE
269
Advisory Published
Updated

CVE-2020-29481

First published: Tue Dec 15 2020(Updated: )

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.

Credit: cve@mitre.org

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
debian/xen
4.11.4+107-gef32c7afa2-1
4.14.6-1
4.14.5+94-ge49571868d-1
4.17.1+2-gb773c48e36-1
4.17.2+55-g0b56bed864-1
Xen xen-unstable<=4.14.0
Debian=10.0
Fedora=32
Fedora=33

Remedy

https://xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-322.html

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Reference Links

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the severity of CVE-2020-29481?

    CVE-2020-29481 has a moderate severity level due to the improper handling of access rights in Xenstore.

  • How do I fix CVE-2020-29481?

    To fix CVE-2020-29481, upgrade to a version of Xen that is not affected, such as those released after 4.14.0.

  • Which versions of Xen are affected by CVE-2020-29481?

    CVE-2020-29481 affects Xen versions up to and including 4.14.0.

  • What impact does CVE-2020-29481 have on system security?

    The impact of CVE-2020-29481 allows a new domain to inherit access rights improperly, potentially leading to privilege escalation.

  • Is CVE-2020-29481 a local or remote vulnerability?

    CVE-2020-29481 is primarily a local vulnerability as it involves access rights within the hypervisor environment.

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