KVM: SVM: Forcibly leave SMM mode on SHUTDOWN interception

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Summary

CVECVE-2025-37957
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerLinux
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2025-05-20 16:15:33 UTC
Updated2026-07-30 06:22:37 UTC
DescriptionIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: SVM: Forcibly leave SMM mode on SHUTDOWN interception Previously, commit ed129ec9057f ("KVM: x86: forcibly leave nested mode on vCPU reset") addressed an issue where a triple fault occurring in nested mode could lead to use-after-free scenarios. However, the commit did not handle the analogous situation for System Management Mode (SMM). This omission results in triggering a WARN when KVM forces a vCPU INIT after SHUTDOWN interception while the vCPU is in SMM. This situation was reprodused using Syzkaller by: 1) Creating a KVM VM and vCPU 2) Sending a KVM_SMI ioctl to explicitly enter SMM 3) Executing invalid instructions causing consecutive exceptions and eventually a triple fault The issue manifests as follows: WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 25506 at arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:12112 kvm_vcpu_reset+0x1d2/0x1530 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:12112 Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 25506 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 6.1.130-syzkaller-00157-g164fe5dde9b6 #0 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.12.0-1 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:kvm_vcpu_reset+0x1d2/0x1530 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:12112 Call Trace: <TASK> shutdown_interception+0x66/0xb0 arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c:2136 svm_invoke_exit_handler+0x110/0x530 arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c:3395 svm_handle_exit+0x424/0x920 arch/x86/kvm/svm/svm.c:3457 vcpu_enter_guest arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:10959 [inline] vcpu_run+0x2c43/0x5a90 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11062 kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x50f/0x1cf0 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c:11283 kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x570/0xf00 arch/x86/kvm/../../../virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:4122 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:870 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:856 [inline] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x19a/0x210 fs/ioctl.c:856 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 arch/x86/entry/common.c:81 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x6e/0xd8 Architecturally, INIT is blocked when the CPU is in SMM, hence KVM's WARN() in kvm_vcpu_reset() to guard against KVM bugs, e.g. to detect improper emulation of INIT. SHUTDOWN on SVM is a weird edge case where KVM needs to do _something_ sane with the VMCB, since it's technically undefined, and INIT is the least awful choice given KVM's ABI. So, double down on stuffing INIT on SHUTDOWN, and force the vCPU out of SMM to avoid any weirdness (and the WARN). Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller. [sean: massage changelog, make it clear this isn't architectural behavior]

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

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

Problem Types: CWE-416

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67Secondary8.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1CNADECLARED8.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

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 ed129ec9057f89d615ba0c81a4984a90345a1684 ec24e62a1dd3540ee696314422040180040c1e4a git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected ed129ec9057f89d615ba0c81a4984a90345a1684 d362b21fefcef7eda8f1cd78a5925735d2b3287c git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected ed129ec9057f89d615ba0c81a4984a90345a1684 e9b28bc65fd3a56755ba503258024608292b4ab1 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected ed129ec9057f89d615ba0c81a4984a90345a1684 a2620f8932fa9fdabc3d78ed6efb004ca409019f git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 6425c590d0cc6914658a630a40b7f8226aa028c3 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected d40ef0a511676bd65ca9acb295430c07af59ab85 git Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 5.15.81 5.16 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 6.0.11 6.1 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux affected 6.1 Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.1 semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.6.92 6.6.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.12.29 6.12.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.14.7 6.14.* semver Not specified
CNA Linux Linux unaffected 6.15 * original_commit_for_fix Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
git.kernel.org/stable/c/e9b28bc65fd3a56755ba503258024608292b4ab1 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/ec24e62a1dd3540ee696314422040180040c1e4a 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/a2620f8932fa9fdabc3d78ed6efb004ca409019f 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch
git.kernel.org/stable/c/d362b21fefcef7eda8f1cd78a5925735d2b3287c 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 git.kernel.org Patch
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