# CVE-2017-15038: Race condition in n/a

> Local guest users can exploit a race condition in QEMU's 9pfs implementation to read sensitive host heap memory.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.6 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **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:** 9 Oct 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2017-15038, GHSA-wvr5-3fwj-8f26, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-15038

## What is CVE-2017-15038?

CVE-2017-15038 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Qemu Qemu, published on 9 Oct 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Race condition in the v9fs_xattrwalk function in hw/9pfs/9p.c in QEMU (aka Quick Emulator) allows local guest OS users to obtain sensitive information from host heap memory via vectors related to reading extended attributes.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-15038?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Qemu Qemu.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-15038?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2017-15038 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-15038 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Qemu Qemu

- [CVE-2022-36648](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-36648/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2015-8556](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8556/): Race condition in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-3616](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3616/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2019-12928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12928/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-12929](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12929/): Command injection in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-15038 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-15038 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Qemu Qemu, published on 9 Oct 2017. 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-2017-15038 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Qemu Qemu. 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-2017-15038/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15038/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-15038
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-15038
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-15038

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-15038/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.