# CVE-2010-2938: Denial of service in n/a

> Local users can crash the host OS by requesting a VMCS dump on Intel platforms without EPT support in the Linux kernel.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 8 Oct 2010
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2010-3068, DEBIAN-CVE-2010-2938, GHSA-9cjj-33q2-5pjr

## What is CVE-2010-2938?

CVE-2010-2938 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 Oct 2010. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

arch/x86/hvm/vmx/vmcs.c in the virtual-machine control structure (VMCS) implementation in the Linux kernel 2.6.18 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5, when an Intel platform without Extended Page Tables (EPT) functionality is used, accesses VMCS fields without verifying hardware support for these fields, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (host OS crash) by requesting a VMCS dump for a fully virtualized Xen guest.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-2938?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-2938?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2010-2938 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-2938 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-2938 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-2938 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 8 Oct 2010. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-2938 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2938/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2938/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-2938
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-2938
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-2938

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-2938/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.