# CVE-2014-1666: Missing authorization in n/a

> Local paravirtualized guests can bypass restrictions on physical device operations to cause denial of service or potentially escalate privileges.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/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:** 26 Jan 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2014-1666, GHSA-3fc4-5q4x-p7j8

## What is CVE-2014-1666?

CVE-2014-1666 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Xen Xen, published on 26 Jan 2014. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The do_physdev_op function in Xen 4.1.5, 4.1.6.1, 4.2.2 through 4.2.3, and 4.3.x does not properly restrict access to the (1) PHYSDEVOP_prepare_msix and (2) PHYSDEVOP_release_msix operations, which allows local PV guests to cause a denial of service (host or guest malfunction) or possibly gain privileges via unspecified vectors.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-1666?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Xen Xen.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-1666?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2014-1666 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-1666 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Xen Xen

- [CVE-2017-10912](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10912/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-10918](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10918/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-10920](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10920/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2017-10921](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10921/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2025-27466](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-27466/): Mutiple vulnerabilities in the Viridian interface (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-1666 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-1666 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Xen Xen, published on 26 Jan 2014. 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-2014-1666 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Xen Xen. 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-2014-1666/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1666/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-1666
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1666
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-1666

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1666/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.