# CVE-2024-46830: KVM: x86: Acquire kvm->srcu when handling KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS

> A missing SRCU lock in KVM x86 handling of VCPU events can lead to suspicious RCU usage and potential system instability or crashes.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 27 Sep 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-46830, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-46830, GHSA-pxxf-f2vm-qfhg, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-46830, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-46830, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-46830

## What is CVE-2024-46830?

CVE-2024-46830 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Sep 2024. 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: x86: Acquire kvm->srcu when handling KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS

Grab kvm->srcu when processing KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS, as KVM will forcibly
leave nested VMX/SVM if SMM mode is being toggled, and leaving nested VMX
reads guest memory.

Note, kvm_vcpu_ioctl_x86_set_vcpu_events() can also be called from KVM_RUN
via sync_regs(), which already holds SRCU.  I.e. trying to precisely use
kvm_vcpu_srcu_read_lock() around the problematic SMM code would cause
problems.  Acquiring SRCU isn't all that expensive, so for simplicity,
grab it unconditionally for KVM_SET_VCPU_EVENTS.

 =============================
 WARNING: suspicious RCU usage
 6.10.0-rc7-332d2c1d713e-next-vm #552 Not tainted
 -----------------------------
 include/linux/kvm_host.h:1027 suspicious rcu_dereference_check() usage!

 other info that might help us debug this:

 rcu_scheduler_active = 2, debug_locks = 1
 1 lock held by repro/1071:
  #0: ffff88811e424430 (&vcpu->mutex){+.+.}-{3:3}, at: kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x7d/0x970 [kvm]

 stack backtrace:
 CPU: 15 PID: 1071 Comm: repro Not tainted 6.10.0-rc7-332d2c1d713e-next-vm #552
 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
 Call Trace:
  <TASK>
  dump_stack_lvl+0x7f/0x90
  lockdep_rcu_suspicious+0x13f/0x1a0
  kvm_vcpu_gfn_to_memslot+0x168/0x190 [kvm]
  kvm_vcpu_read_guest+0x3e/0x90 [kvm]
  nested_vmx_load_msr+0x6b/0x1d0 [kvm_intel]
  load_vmcs12_host_state+0x432/0xb40 [kvm_intel]
  vmx_leave_nested+0x30/0x40 [kvm_intel]
  kvm_vcpu_ioctl_x86_set_vcpu_events+0x15d/0x2b0 [kvm]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl+0x1107/0x1750 [kvm]
  ? mark_held_locks+0x49/0x70
  ? kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x7d/0x970 [kvm]
  ? kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x497/0x970 [kvm]
  kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x497/0x970 [kvm]
  ? lock_acquire+0xba/0x2d0
  ? find_held_lock+0x2b/0x80
  ? do_user_addr_fault+0x40c/0x6f0
  ? lock_release+0xb7/0x270
  __x64_sys_ioctl+0x82/0xb0
  do_syscall_64+0x6c/0x170
  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
 RIP: 0033:0x7ff11eb1b539
  </TASK>

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-46830?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-46830?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-46830 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-46830 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-46830 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-46830 is a high-severity vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 27 Sep 2024. 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-2024-46830 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian 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-2024-46830/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-46830/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-46830
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-46830
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-46830

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-46830/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.