low
3.8
Advisory Published
CVE Published
Updated

CVE-2024-31144: Xapi: Metadata injection attack against backup/restore functionality

First published: Tue Jul 16 2024(Updated: )

For a brief summary of Xapi terminology, see: https://xapi-project.github.io/xen-api/overview.html#object-model-overview Xapi contains functionality to backup and restore metadata about Virtual Machines and Storage Repositories (SRs). The metadata itself is stored in a Virtual Disk Image (VDI) inside an SR. This is used for two purposes; a general backup of metadata (e.g. to recover from a host failure if the filer is still good), and Portable SRs (e.g. using an external hard drive to move VMs to another host). Metadata is only restored as an explicit administrator action, but occurs in cases where the host has no information about the SR, and must locate the metadata VDI in order to retrieve the metadata. The metadata VDI is located by searching (in UUID alphanumeric order) each VDI, mounting it, and seeing if there is a suitable metadata file present. The first matching VDI is deemed to be the metadata VDI, and is restored from. In the general case, the content of VDIs are controlled by the VM owner, and should not be trusted by the host administrator. A malicious guest can manipulate its disk to appear to be a metadata backup. A guest cannot choose the UUIDs of its VDIs, but a guest with one disk has a 50% chance of sorting ahead of the legitimate metadata backup. A guest with two disks has a 75% chance, etc.

Credit: security@xen.org

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
Xen XAPI

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Reference Links

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the severity of CVE-2024-31144?

    CVE-2024-31144 is classified as a high severity vulnerability due to its potential impact on virtual machine backup and metadata integrity.

  • How do I fix CVE-2024-31144?

    To fix CVE-2024-31144, update your Xen Xapi implementation to the latest version that addresses this vulnerability.

  • What impact does CVE-2024-31144 have on my systems?

    CVE-2024-31144 may compromise the backup and restore functionality of virtual machine metadata, potentially leading to data loss or availability issues.

  • Is CVE-2024-31144 exploitable remotely?

    Yes, CVE-2024-31144 has the potential to be exploited remotely if proper security measures are not in place.

  • Where can I find more information about CVE-2024-31144?

    For more information about CVE-2024-31144, refer to the associated advisory and documentation from the Xen project.

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