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6.5

Xen on Debian may lock up host from guest

CVE-2018-10981 · published 8 years ago
Summary

The Xen hypervisor used in Debian systems can be forced into an endless loop by a virtual machine that triggers an illegal state change in a virtual device. This makes the host machine unresponsive, effectively a denial of service. Update Xen to a version newer than 4.10.x or apply the vendor's patch to prevent the condition.

What to do

The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.

Affected software
VendorProductAffected versions
debian debian_linux 7.0
8.0
9.0
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
xen xen <= 4.10.1
cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Original advisory text
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.10.x allowing x86 HVM guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host OS infinite loop) in situations where a QEMU device model attempts to make invalid t...
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.10.x allowing x86 HVM guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host OS infinite loop) in situations where a QEMU device model attempts to make invalid transitions between states of a request.
References
Fix within
Internet-facing 60 days
Internal At next upgrade
  • Not known to be exploited
  • Needs hands-on effort to exploit (estimated)
  • Gives an attacker partial control (estimated)
Severity
6.5 Medium
Exploitation
<1% chance of attack within 30 days
Type
CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
Timeline
Published10 May 2018
Updated4 Nov 2026
First seen29 Sep 2026
Sources
CVE-2018-10981 · NVD
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