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TI-2021-03296 Aliases CVE-2021-4440GHSA-vc52-cgfp-jw27

x86/xen: Drop USERGS_SYSRET64 paravirt call

Priority LOW 39CWE-400Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-400.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/xen: Drop USERGS_SYSRET64 paravirt call commit afd30525a659ac0ae0904f0cb4a2ca75522c3123 upstream. USERGS_SYSRET64 is used to return from a syscall via SYSRET, but a Xen PV guest will nevertheless use the IRET hypercall, as there is no sysret PV hypercall defined. So instead of testing all the prerequisites for doing a sysret and then mangling the stack for Xen PV again for doing an iret just use the iret exit from the beginning. This can easily be done via an ALTERNATIVE like it is done for the sysenter compat case already. It should be noted that this drops the optimization in Xen for not restoring a few registers when returning to user mode, but it seems as if the saved instructions in the kernel more than compensate for this drop (a kernel build in a Xen PV guest was slightly faster with this patch applied). While at it remove the stale sysret32 remnants. [ pawan: Brad Spengler and Salvatore Bonaccorso <[email protected]> reported a problem with the 5.10 backport commit edc702b4a820 ("x86/entry_64: Add VERW just before userspace transition"). When CONFIG_PARAVIRT_XXL=y, CLEAR_CPU_BUFFERS is not executed in syscall_return_via_sysret path as USERGS_SYSRET64 is runtime patched to: .cpu_usergs_sysret64 = { 0x0f, 0x01, 0xf8, 0x48, 0x0f, 0x07 }, // swapgs; sysretq which is missing CLEAR_CPU_BUFFERS. It turns out dropping USERGS_SYSRET64 simplifies the code, allowing CLEAR_CPU_BUFFERS to be explicitly added to syscall_return_via_sysret path. Below is with CONFIG_PARAVIRT_XXL=y and this patch applied: syscall_return_via_sysret: ... <+342>: swapgs <+345>: xchg %ax,%ax <+347>: verw -0x1a2(%rip) <------ <+354>: sysretq ]

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00225 13th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 5.10.218Red Hat: 3 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux5.10.215 to before 5.10.2185.10.218Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10.215 to before 5.10.218 Fixed in 5.10.218 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*5.10.215 to before 5.10.218VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.10.215 to before 5.10.218 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.218

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-4440
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-vc52-cgfp-jw27

References

  • TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
  • TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
See all 15278 →

Sources