CVE-2020-25602: An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x.
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 24/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.32% (FIRST EPSS).
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. Administrator privileges are required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- Fixed version: xen (Alpine:v3.10) 4.12.3-r4; xen (Alpine:v3.11) 4.13.1-r4; xen (Alpine:v3.13) 4.14.0-r1.
- Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).
Low priority for now. Upgrade to xen (Alpine:v3.10) 4.12.3-r4; xen (Alpine:v3.11) 4.13.1-r4; xen (Alpine:v3.13) 4.14.0-r1 or later.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. An x86 PV guest can trigger a host OS crash when handling guest access to MSR_MISC_ENABLE. When a guest accesses certain Model Specific Registers, Xen first reads the value from hardware to use as the basis for auditing the guest access. For the MISC_ENABLE MSR, which is an Intel specific MSR, this MSR read is performed without error handling for a #GP fault, which is the consequence of trying to read this MSR on non-Intel hardware. A buggy or malicious PV guest administrator can crash Xen, resulting in a host Denial of Service. Only x86 systems are vulnerable. ARM systems are not vulnerable. Only Xen versions 4.11 and onwards are vulnerable. 4.10 and earlier are not vulnerable. Only x86 systems that do not implement the MISC_ENABLE MSR (0x1a0) are vulnerable. AMD and Hygon systems do not implement this MSR and are vulnerable. Intel systems do implement this MSR and are not vulnerable. Other manufacturers have not been checked. Only x86 PV guests can exploit the vulnerability. x86 HVM/PVH guests cannot exploit the vulnerability.
- Published
- Sep 23, 2020
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.3% · 25th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-755
Report tools
Action score
24
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 24 / 40 · 6.0 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.3%
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| xen | xen | cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen |
| fedoraproject | fedora | cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora |
| debian | debian linux | cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux |
| opensuse | leap | cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- debian debian linux10.0
- fedoraproject fedora31
- fedoraproject fedora32
- fedoraproject fedora33
- opensuse leap15.2
- xen xen4.11.0 and later · up to 4.14.0 inclusive
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine:v3.10 | xen | from 4.11.0 · before 4.12.3-r4 | 4.12.3-r4 |
| Alpine:v3.11 | xen | from 4.11.0 · before 4.13.1-r4 | 4.13.1-r4 |
| Alpine:v3.13 | xen | from 4.11.0 · before 4.14.0-r1 | 4.14.0-r1 |
| Alpine:v3.9 | xen | from 4.11.0 · before 4.11.4-r2 | 4.11.4-r2 |
| Debian:10 | xen | before 4.11.4+37-g3263f257ca-1 | 4.11.4+37-g3263f257ca-1 |
| Debian:12 | xen | before 4.14.0+80-gd101b417b7-1 | 4.14.0+80-gd101b417b7-1 |
| openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | xen | before 4.13.1_08-lp152.2.9.1 | 4.13.1_08-lp152.2.9.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 | xen | before 4.12.3_08-3.28.1 | 4.12.3_08-3.28.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP2 | xen | before 4.13.1_08-3.10.1 | 4.13.1_08-3.10.1 |
| SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 | xen | before 4.12.3_08-3.24.1 | 4.12.3_08-3.24.1 |
| SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 9 | xen | before 4.11.4_08-2.36.1 | 4.11.4_08-2.36.1 |
Same product
xen: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2017-10921The grant-table feature in Xen through 4.8.x does not ensure sufficient type counts for a GNTMAP_device_map and GNTMAP_host_map mapping, whi41Plan
- CVE-2017-10920The grant-table feature in Xen through 4.8.x mishandles a GNTMAP_device_map and GNTMAP_host_map mapping, when followed by only a GNTMAP_host41Plan
- CVE-2017-10918Xen through 4.8.x does not validate memory allocations during certain P2M operations, which allows guest OS users to obtain privileged host 41Plan
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-25600Sep 23, 2020 · An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x.22Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-25601Sep 23, 2020 · An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x.22Monitor
- Later →CVE-2020-25603Sep 23, 2020 · An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x.31Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| alpine:xen | 4.12.3-r4 · Alpine:v3.10 | Package registry (OSV) |
| debian:xen | 4.14.0+80-gd101b417b7-1 · Debian:12 | Package registry (OSV) |
| opensuse:xen | 4.13.1_08-lp152.2.9.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.2 | Package registry (OSV) |
| suse:xen | 4.11.4_08-2.36.1 · SUSE:OpenStack Cloud 9 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)
Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.
- TR-20-781 · Sep 24, 2020(Xen Zafiyeti)
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- Administrator privileges are required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-755 · Improper Handling of Exceptional ConditionsCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
Show all references (6 more)Show less
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4JRXMKEMQRQYWYEPHVBIWUEAVQ3LU4FN/
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DA633Y3G5KX7MKRN4PFEGM3IVTJMBEOM/
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RJZERRBJN6E6STDCHT4JHP4MI6TKBCJE/
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/202011-06
- www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4769
- xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-333.html
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.