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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Linux

CVE-2022-48763: KVM: x86: Forcibly leave nested virt when SMM state is toggled

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • 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: 0.21% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: Linux Linux 080dbe7e9b86a0392d8dffc00d9971792afc121f, b4c0d89c92e957ecccce12e66b63875d0cc7af7e, e302786233e6bc512986d007c96458ccf5ca21c7.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Linux Linux 080dbe7e9b86a0392d8dffc00d9971792afc121f, b4c0d89c92e957ecccce12e66b63875d0cc7af7e, e302786233e6bc512986d007c96458ccf5ca21c7 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

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Forcibly leave nested virt when SMM state is toggled Forcibly leave nested virtualization operation if userspace toggles SMM state via KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS or KVM_SYNC_X86_EVENTS. If userspace forces the vCPU out of SMM while it's post-VMXON and then injects an SMI, vmx_enter_smm() will overwrite vmx->nested.smm.vmxon and end up with both vmxon=false and smm.vmxon=false, but all other nVMX state allocated. Don't attempt to gracefully handle the transition as (a) most transitions are nonsencial, e.g. forcing SMM while L2 is running, (b) there isn't sufficient information to handle all transitions, e.g. SVM wants access to the SMRAM save state, and (c) KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS must precede KVM_SET_NESTED_STATE during state restore as the latter disallows putting the vCPU into L2 if SMM is active, and disallows tagging the vCPU as being post-VMXON in SMM if SMM is not active. Abuse of KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS manifests as a WARN and memory leak in nVMX due to failure to free vmcs01's shadow VMCS, but the bug goes far beyond just a memory leak, e.g. toggling SMM on while L2 is active puts the vCPU in an architecturally impossible state. WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3606 at free_loaded_vmcs arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2665 [inline] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3606 at free_loaded_vmcs+0x158/0x1a0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2656 Modules linked in: CPU: 1 PID: 3606 Comm: syz-executor725 Not tainted 5.17.0-rc1-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 RIP: 0010:free_loaded_vmcs arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2665 [inline] RIP: 0010:free_loaded_vmcs+0x158/0x1a0 arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c:2656 Code: <0f> 0b eb b3 e8 8f 4d 9f 00 e9 f7 fe ff ff 48 89 df e8 92 4d 9f 00 Call Trace: <TASK> kvm_arch_vcpu_destroy+0x72/0x2f0 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11123 kvm_vcpu_destroy arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:441 [inline] kvm_destroy_vcpus+0x11f/0x290 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:460 kvm_free_vcpus arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11564 [inline] kvm_arch_destroy_vm+0x2e8/0x470 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11676 kvm_destroy_vm arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1217 [inline] kvm_put_kvm+0x4fa/0xb00 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1250 kvm_vm_release+0x3f/0x50 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:1273 __fput+0x286/0x9f0 fs/file_table.c:311 task_work_run+0xdd/0x1a0 kernel/task_work.c:164 exit_task_work include/linux/task_work.h:32 [inline] do_exit+0xb29/0x2a30 kernel/exit.c:806 do_group_exit+0xd2/0x2f0 kernel/exit.c:935 get_signal+0x4b0/0x28c0 kernel/signal.c:2862 arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x2a9/0x1c40 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c:868 handle_signal_work kernel/entry/common.c:148 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_loop kernel/entry/common.c:172 [inline] exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x17d/0x290 kernel/entry/common.c:207 __syscall_exit_to_user_mode_work kernel/entry/common.c:289 [inline] syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x19/0x60 kernel/entry/common.c:300 do_syscall_64+0x42/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:86 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae </TASK>

MediumCVSS 5.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jun 20, 2024
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 12th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
22 / 40 · 5.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

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

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Follow CVE-2022-48763

When you'll hear from us

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  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
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  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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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.

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Affected 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.

VendorProduct
linuxlinux kernel

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • linux linux kernelbefore 5.10.97
  • linux linux kernel5.11 and later · before 5.15.19
  • linux linux kernel5.16 and later · before 5.16.5
  • linux linux kernel5.17

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Linux). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Linux Linux

    • 4.15affected
    • 72e9cbdb43384ceacc49e2fb6b8c8fb7c5988778 and later · before 080dbe7e9b86a0392d8dffc00d9971792afc121faffected · git
    • 72e9cbdb43384ceacc49e2fb6b8c8fb7c5988778 and later · before e302786233e6bc512986d007c96458ccf5ca21c7affected · git
    • 72e9cbdb43384ceacc49e2fb6b8c8fb7c5988778 and later · before b4c0d89c92e957ecccce12e66b63875d0cc7af7eaffected · git
    • 72e9cbdb43384ceacc49e2fb6b8c8fb7c5988778 and later · before f7e570780efc5cec9b2ed1e0472a7da14e864fdbaffected · git
    • before 4.15not affected · semver
    • 5.10.97 and later · up to and including 5.10.*not affected · semver
    • 5.15.19 and later · up to and including 5.15.*not affected · semver
    • 5.16.5 and later · up to and including 5.16.*not affected · semver
    • 5.17 and laternot affected · original_commit_for_fix

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12linuxbefore 5.16.7-15.16.7-1

Same product

linux: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-31431crypto: algif_aead - Revert to operating out-of-placeKEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2022-0847A flaw was found in the way the "flags" member of the new pipe buffer structure was lacking proper initialization in copy_page_to_iter_pipe KEV
    89Now
  • CVE-2021-22555Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACEKEV
    85Now

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-48761Jun 20, 2024 · usb: xhci-plat: fix crash when suspend if remote wake enable
    21Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-48762Jun 20, 2024 · arm64: extable: fix load_unaligned_zeropad() reg indices
    31Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2022-48764Jun 20, 2024 · KVM: x86: Free kvm_cpuid_entry2 array on post-KVM_RUN KVM_SET_CPUID{,2}
    21Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Linux Linux080dbe7e9b86a0392d8dffc00d9971792afc121fVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxb4c0d89c92e957ecccce12e66b63875d0cc7af7eVendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxe302786233e6bc512986d007c96458ccf5ca21c7Vendor (CNA)
Linux Linuxf7e570780efc5cec9b2ed1e0472a7da14e864fdbVendor (CNA)
debian:linux5.16.7-1 · Debian:12Package 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 researchers

Finders, 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).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • 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
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-401 · Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/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

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records