# CVE-2023-54296: KVM: SVM: Get source vCPUs from source VM for SEV-ES intrahost migration

> A null pointer dereference in KVM SVM SEV-ES migration allows a privileged local attacker to crash the host system.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 30 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-54296, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-54296, GHSA-68cr-cmrr-85gj, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-54296

## What is CVE-2023-54296?

CVE-2023-54296 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Dec 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: SVM: Get source vCPUs from source VM for SEV-ES intrahost migration

Fix a goof where KVM tries to grab source vCPUs from the destination VM
when doing intrahost migration.  Grabbing the wrong vCPU not only hoses
the guest, it also crashes the host due to the VMSA pointer being left
NULL.

  BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffe38687000000
  #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
  #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
  PGD 0 P4D 0
  Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
  CPU: 39 PID: 17143 Comm: sev_migrate_tes Tainted: GO       6.5.0-smp--fff2e47e6c3b-next #151
  Hardware name: Google, Inc. Arcadia_IT_80/Arcadia_IT_80, BIOS 34.28.0 07/10/2023
  RIP: 0010:__free_pages+0x15/0xd0
  RSP: 0018:ffff923fcf6e3c78 EFLAGS: 00010246
  RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: ffffe38687000000 RCX: 0000000000000100
  RDX: 0000000000000100 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffffe38687000000
  RBP: ffff923fcf6e3c88 R08: ffff923fcafb0000 R09: 0000000000000000
  R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffffffff83619b90 R12: ffff923fa9540000
  R13: 0000000000080007 R14: ffff923f6d35d000 R15: 0000000000000000
  FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff929d0d7c0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
  CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
  CR2: ffffe38687000000 CR3: 0000005224c34005 CR4: 0000000000770ee0
  PKRU: 55555554
  Call Trace:
   <TASK>
   sev_free_vcpu+0xcb/0x110 [kvm_amd]
   svm_vcpu_free+0x75/0xf0 [kvm_amd]
   kvm_arch_vcpu_destroy+0x36/0x140 [kvm]
   kvm_destroy_vcpus+0x67/0x100 [kvm]
   kvm_arch_destroy_vm+0x161/0x1d0 [kvm]
   kvm_put_kvm+0x276/0x560 [kvm]
   kvm_vm_release+0x25/0x30 [kvm]
   __fput+0x106/0x280
   ____fput+0x12/0x20
   task_work_run+0x86/0xb0
   do_exit+0x2e3/0x9c0
   do_group_exit+0xb1/0xc0
   __x64_sys_exit_group+0x1b/0x20
   do_syscall_64+0x41/0x90
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
   </TASK>
  CR2: ffffe38687000000

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-54296?


## How do I fix CVE-2023-54296?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-54296 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-54296 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-54296 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-54296 is a vulnerability in Linux, published on 30 Dec 2025. 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-2023-54296 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux. 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-2023-54296/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54296/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-54296
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-54296
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-54296

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-54296/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.