CVE-2020-15852

Description

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel, in the way IOPL and IOPERM system calls were handled during context switches in x86 PV guests. This flaw allows a local guest user to escalate their privileges to the guest. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Statement

The vulnerability can only be exploited in domains which have been granted access to IO ports by Xen. This is typically only the hardware domain, and PV guests configured with PCI passthrough. x86 HVM/PVH guests are not affected by this flaw.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score77.8N/A
Attack VectorLocalLocalN/A
Attack ComplexityHighLowN/A
Privileges RequiredLowLowN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityHighHighN/A
Integrity ImpactHighHighN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Access Control

Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity

A user can assume the identity of another user with separate privileges in another context. This will give the user unauthorized access that may allow them to acquire the access information of other users.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank the Xen project for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

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