CVE-2009-3290 Privilege escalation in n/a

High 7.2 Published 22 Sep 2009 Updated 7 Aug 2024

Local guest users can crash the guest kernel and read or write kernel memory due to missing ring 0 checks in KVM hypercalls.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2009-3290?

CVE-2009-3290 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 Sep 2009. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

The kvm_emulate_hypercall function in arch/x86/kvm/x86.c in KVM in the Linux kernel 2.6.25-rc1, and other versions before 2.6.31, when running on x86 systems, does not prevent access to MMU hypercalls from ring 0, which allows local guest OS users to cause a denial of service (guest kernel crash) and read or write guest kernel memory via unspecified "random addresses."

Weakness: CWE-399

Which versions are affected by CVE-2009-3290?

It affects 1 product.

Linux distribution packages (10)

`kmod-kvm` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::client	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::client	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::client	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm-qemu-img` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::client	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm-tools` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::client	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kmod-kvm` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::server	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::server	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm-debuginfo` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::server	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm-qemu-img` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::server	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`
`kvm-tools` Red Hat:rhel_virtualization:5::server	All versions	`0:83-105.el5_4.7`

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2009-3290?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2009-3290 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2009-3290 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-854c-mqcx-rhcc, RHSA-2009:1465.