KVM: x86/pmu: Disable support for adaptive PEBS

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2024-26992
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerLinux
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2024-05-01 06:15:16 UTC
Updated2026-08-04 11:17:31 UTC
DescriptionIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86/pmu: Disable support for adaptive PEBS Drop support for virtualizing adaptive PEBS, as KVM's implementation is architecturally broken without an obvious/easy path forward, and because exposing adaptive PEBS can leak host LBRs to the guest, i.e. can leak host kernel addresses to the guest. Bug #1 is that KVM doesn't account for the upper 32 bits of IA32_FIXED_CTR_CTRL when (re)programming fixed counters, e.g fixed_ctrl_field() drops the upper bits, reprogram_fixed_counters() stores local variables as u8s and truncates the upper bits too, etc. Bug #2 is that, because KVM _always_ sets precise_ip to a non-zero value for PEBS events, perf will _always_ generate an adaptive record, even if the guest requested a basic record. Note, KVM will also enable adaptive PEBS in individual *counter*, even if adaptive PEBS isn't exposed to the guest, but this is benign as MSR_PEBS_DATA_CFG is guaranteed to be zero, i.e. the guest will only ever see Basic records. Bug #3 is in perf. intel_pmu_disable_fixed() doesn't clear the upper bits either, i.e. leaves ICL_FIXED_0_ADAPTIVE set, and intel_pmu_enable_fixed() effectively doesn't clear ICL_FIXED_0_ADAPTIVE either. I.e. perf _always_ enables ADAPTIVE counters, regardless of what KVM requests. Bug #4 is that adaptive PEBS *might* effectively bypass event filters set by the host, as "Updated Memory Access Info Group" records information that might be disallowed by userspace via KVM_SET_PMU_EVENT_FILTER. Bug #5 is that KVM doesn't ensure LBR MSRs hold guest values (or at least zeros) when entering a vCPU with adaptive PEBS, which allows the guest to read host LBRs, i.e. host RIPs/addresses, by enabling "LBR Entries" records. Disable adaptive PEBS support as an immediate fix due to the severity of the LBR leak in particular, and because fixing all of the bugs will be non-trivial, e.g. not suitable for backporting to stable kernels. Note! This will break live migration, but trying to make KVM play nice with live migration would be quite complicated, wouldn't be guaranteed to work (i.e. KVM might still kill/confuse the guest), and it's not clear that there are any publicly available VMMs that support adaptive PEBS, let alone live migrate VMs that support adaptive PEBS, e.g. QEMU doesn't support PEBS in any capacity.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 3.3 LOW from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: NVD-CWE-noinfo

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary3.3LOWCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
3.1416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67Secondary7.3HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED7.3HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Linux Linux Kernel All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Linux Linux affected c59a1f106f5cd4843c097069ff1bb2ad72103a67 0fb74c00d140a66128afc0003785dcc57e69d312 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected c59a1f106f5cd4843c097069ff1bb2ad72103a67 037e48ceccf163899374b601afb6ae8d0bf1d2ac git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected c59a1f106f5cd4843c097069ff1bb2ad72103a67 7a7650b3ac23e5fc8c990f00e94f787dc84e3175 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected c59a1f106f5cd4843c097069ff1bb2ad72103a67 9e985cbf2942a1bb8fcef9adc2a17d90fd7ca8ee git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 6.0 Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.0 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.1.88 6.1.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.6.29 6.6.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.8.8 6.8.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.9 * original_commit_for_fix Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
git.kernel.org/stable/c/0fb74c00d140a66128afc0003785dcc57e69d312 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/messag... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.fedoraproject.org
git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a7650b3ac23e5fc8c990f00e94f787dc84e3175 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/messag... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.fedoraproject.org
git.kernel.org/stable/c/037e48ceccf163899374b601afb6ae8d0bf1d2ac af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e985cbf2942a1bb8fcef9adc2a17d90fd7ca8ee af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.kernel.org Patch
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/messag... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.fedoraproject.org
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