CVE-2022-2196

Speculative execution attacks in KVM VMX

Severity Score

8.8

*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

*KEV

Decision

Track*

*SSVC

Descriptions

NVD
RedHat

A regression exists in the Linux Kernel within KVM: nVMX that allowed for speculative execution attacks. L2 can carry out Spectre v2 attacks on L1 due to L1 thinking it doesn't need retpolines or IBPB after running L2 due to KVM (L0) advertising eIBRS support to L1. An attacker at L2 with code execution can execute code on an indirect branch on the host machine. We recommend upgrading to Kernel 6.2 or past commit 2e7eab81425a

A flaw was found in the KVM's Intel nested virtualization feature (nVMX). Since L1 and L2 shared branch prediction modes (guest-user and guest-kernel), KVM did not protect indirect branches in L1 from steering by a malicious agent in L2. This could allow a malicious nested guest to carry out Spectre v2 attacks against L1 due to a missing IBPB at VM-exit time.

*Credits: N/A

CVSS Scores

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

High

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

High

Availability

Low

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

High

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

None

Availability

None

* Common Vulnerability Scoring System

SSVC

Decision:Track*

Exploitation

None

Automatable

Tech. Impact

Total

* Organization's Worst-case Scenario

Timeline

2022-06-24 CVE Reserved
2023-01-09 CVE Published
2024-08-01 EPSS Updated
2024-08-03 CVE Updated
---------- Exploited in Wild
---------- KEV Due Date
---------- First Exploit

CWE

CWE-1188: Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default

CAPEC

CAPEC-30: Hijacking a Privileged Thread of Execution

References (5)

URL	Tag	Source
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/05/msg00005.html	Mailing List

URL	Date	SRC

URL	Date	SRC
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=2e7eab81425ad6c875f2ed47c0ce01e78afc38a5	2023-08-18
https://kernel.dance/#2e7eab81425a	2023-08-18

URL	Date	SRC
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-2196	2024-02-21
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2160023	2024-02-21

Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions

Vendor		Product				Version		Other		Status
Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status	<-- -->	Vendor	Product	Version	Other	Status
Linux Search vendor "Linux"		Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"				>= 5.4.47 < 5.4.233 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.4.47 < 5.4.233"		-		Affected
Linux Search vendor "Linux"		Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"				>= 5.6.19 < 5.7 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.6.19 < 5.7"		-		Affected
Linux Search vendor "Linux"		Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"				>= 5.7.3 < 5.10.170 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.7.3 < 5.10.170"		-		Affected
Linux Search vendor "Linux"		Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"				>= 5.11 < 5.15.96 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.11 < 5.15.96"		-		Affected
Linux Search vendor "Linux"		Linux Kernel Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel"				>= 5.16 < 6.1.14 Search vendor "Linux" for product "Linux Kernel" and version " >= 5.16 < 6.1.14"		-		Affected
Debian Search vendor "Debian"		Debian Linux Search vendor "Debian" for product "Debian Linux"				10.0 Search vendor "Debian" for product "Debian Linux" and version "10.0"		-		Affected