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TI-2021-09753 Aliases CVE-2021-28687GHSA-f8g3-gxq4-xqv7

Missing initialization of resource in xen

Priority LOW 25CWE-909Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.

Summary

HVM soft-reset crashes toolstack libxl requires all data structures passed across its public interface to be initialized before use and disposed of afterwards by calling a specific set of functions. Many internal data structures also require this initialize / dispose discipline, but not all of them. When the "soft reset" feature was implemented, the libxl__domain_suspend_state structure didn't require any initialization or disposal. At some point later, an initialization function was introduced for the structure; but the "soft reset" path wasn't refactored to call the initialization function. When a guest nwo initiates a "soft reboot", uninitialized data structure leads to an assert() when later code finds the structure in an unexpected state. The effect of this is to crash the process monitoring the guest. How this affects the system depends on the structure of the toolstack. For xl, this will have no security-relevant effect: every VM has its own independent monitoring process, which contains no state. The domain in question will hang in a crashed state, but can be destroyed by `xl destroy` just like any other non-cooperating domain. For daemon-based toolstacks linked against libxl, such as libvirt, this will crash the toolstack, losing the state of any in-progress operations (localized DoS), and preventing further administrator operations unless the daemon is configured to restart automatically (system-wide DoS). If crashes "leak" resources, then repeated crashes could use up resources, also causing a system-wide DoS.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00314 24th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed xen (Xen): next of 4.13.x

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
Xenxenxen-unstable—No fix listedCNA
Xenxen4.12.x and laternext of 4.13.xPatch availableCNA
Xenxen4.14.x—No fix listedCNA
  • xen VendorXen Affected xen-unstable Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
  • xen VendorXen Affected 4.12.x and later Fixed in next of 4.13.x Patch available CNA
  • xen VendorXen Affected 4.14.x Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 2

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*4.12 – 4.15.0VulnerableXen
cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:4.15.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*4.15.0 rc1VulnerableXen
  • cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.12 – 4.15.0 Vulnerable ·Xen
  • cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:4.15.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.15.0 rc1 Vulnerable ·Xen

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA xen (Xen) Fixed in next of 4.13.x

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-28687
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-f8g3-gxq4-xqv7

References

  • TI-2012-00210 The x86-64 kernel system-call functionality in Xen 4.1.2 and earlier, as used in Citrix… CVSS 2.0HIGH 7.2
  • TI-2023-07042 Information disclosure through error messages in AMD Ryzen™ 3000 Series Desktop… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
  • TI-2015-04333 The C+ mode offload emulation in the RTL8139 network card device model in QEMU, as used… CVSS 2.0HIGH 9.3
  • TI-2015-06741 The KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel through 4.2.6, and Xen 4.3.x through 4.6.x, allows… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
  • TI-2018-06436 A statement in the System Programming Guide of the Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures… CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.8
  • TI-2024-20522 x86: Incorrect logic for BTC/SRSO mitigations CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
See all 489 →

Sources