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CVE-2020-25602
Published:September 23, 2020
Updated:October 08, 2026
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. An x86 PV guest can trigger a host OS crash when handling guest access to MSR_MISC_ENABLE. When a guest accesses certain Model Specific Registers, Xen first reads the value from hardware to use as the basis for auditing the guest access. For the MISC_ENABLE MSR, which is an Intel specific MSR, this MSR read is performed without error handling for a #GP fault, which is the consequence of trying to read this MSR on non-Intel hardware. A buggy or malicious PV guest administrator can crash Xen, resulting in a host Denial of Service. Only x86 systems are vulnerable. ARM systems are not vulnerable. Only Xen versions 4.11 and onwards are vulnerable. 4.10 and earlier are not vulnerable. Only x86 systems that do not implement the MISC_ENABLE MSR (0x1a0) are vulnerable. AMD and Hygon systems do not implement this MSR and are vulnerable. Intel systems do implement this MSR and are not vulnerable. Other manufacturers have not been checked. Only x86 PV guests can exploit the vulnerability. x86 HVM/PVH guests cannot exploit the vulnerability.
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CVSS v4
Base Score:
8.1
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Attack Requirements
NONE
Privileges Required
HIGH
User Interaction
NONE
Vulnerable System Confidentiality
NONE
Vulnerable System Integrity
NONE
Vulnerable System Availability
HIGH
Subsequent System Confidentiality
NONE
Subsequent System Integrity
NONE
Subsequent System Availability
HIGH
CVSS v3
Base Score:
6
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
HIGH
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
CVSS v2
Base Score:
4.6
Access Vector
LOCAL
Access Complexity
LOW
Authentication
SINGLE
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
COMPLETE
EPSS
Base Score:
0.32