# CVE-2017-10916: Information disclosure in n/a

> Guest OS users can defeat ASLR and other protection mechanisms due to improper vCPU context-switch handling in Xen.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Jul 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2017-10916, DEBIAN-CVE-2017-10916, GHSA-vrf7-6p2g-pr3x, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-10916

## What is CVE-2017-10916?

CVE-2017-10916 is a high-severity vulnerability in Xen Xen, published on 5 Jul 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The vCPU context-switch implementation in Xen through 4.8.x improperly interacts with the Memory Protection Extensions (MPX) and Protection Key (PKU) features, which makes it easier for guest OS users to defeat ASLR and other protection mechanisms, aka XSA-220.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-10916?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Xen Xen.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-10916?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2017-10916 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-10916 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-2017-10916 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-10916 is a high-severity vulnerability in Xen Xen, published on 5 Jul 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-10916 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-2017-10916/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10916/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-10916
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-10916
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-10916

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10916/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.