# CVE-2024-53195: KVM: arm64: Get rid of userspace_irqchip_in_use

> A logic error in Linux KVM arm64 timer handling allows a local attacker to trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service via specific ioctl sequences.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-68303, BELL-CVE-2024-53195, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53195, GHSA-6mv6-cjvx-gfvm, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-53195, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-12-CVE-2024-53195, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-53195, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53195

## What is CVE-2024-53195?

CVE-2024-53195 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Dec 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: arm64: Get rid of userspace_irqchip_in_use

Improper use of userspace_irqchip_in_use led to syzbot hitting the
following WARN_ON() in kvm_timer_update_irq():

WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 3281 at arch/arm64/kvm/arch_timer.c:459
kvm_timer_update_irq+0x21c/0x394
Call trace:
  kvm_timer_update_irq+0x21c/0x394 arch/arm64/kvm/arch_timer.c:459
  kvm_timer_vcpu_reset+0x158/0x684 arch/arm64/kvm/arch_timer.c:968
  kvm_reset_vcpu+0x3b4/0x560 arch/arm64/kvm/reset.c:264
  kvm_vcpu_set_target arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1553 [inline]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_vcpu_init arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1573 [inline]
  kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl+0x112c/0x1b3c arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1695
  kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4ec/0xf74 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:4658
  vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
  __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:907 [inline]
  __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline]
  __arm64_sys_ioctl+0x108/0x184 fs/ioctl.c:893
  __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline]
  invoke_syscall+0x78/0x1b8 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49
  el0_svc_common+0xe8/0x1b0 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132
  do_el0_svc+0x40/0x50 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151
  el0_svc+0x54/0x14c arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:712
  el0t_64_sync_handler+0x84/0xfc arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:730
  el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:598

The following sequence led to the scenario:
 - Userspace creates a VM and a vCPU.
 - The vCPU is initialized with KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3 during
   KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT.
 - Without any other setup, such as vGIC or vPMU, userspace issues
   KVM_RUN on the vCPU. Since the vPMU is requested, but not setup,
   kvm_arm_pmu_v3_enable() fails in kvm_arch_vcpu_run_pid_change().
   As a result, KVM_RUN returns after enabling the timer, but before
   incrementing 'userspace_irqchip_in_use':
   kvm_arch_vcpu_run_pid_change()
       ret = kvm_arm_pmu_v3_enable()
           if (!vcpu->arch.pmu.created)
               return -EINVAL;
       if (ret)
           return ret;
       [...]
       if (!irqchip_in_kernel(kvm))
           static_branch_inc(&userspace_irqchip_in_use);
 - Userspace ignores the error and issues KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT again.
   Since the timer is already enabled, control moves through the
   following flow, ultimately hitting the WARN_ON():
   kvm_timer_vcpu_reset()
       if (timer->enabled)
          kvm_timer_update_irq()
              if (!userspace_irqchip())
                  ret = kvm_vgic_inject_irq()
                      ret = vgic_lazy_init()
                          if (unlikely(!vgic_initialized(kvm)))
                              if (kvm->arch.vgic.vgic_model !=
                                  KVM_DEV_TYPE_ARM_VGIC_V2)
                                      return -EBUSY;
                  WARN_ON(ret);

Theoretically, since userspace_irqchip_in_use's functionality can be
simply replaced by '!irqchip_in_kernel()', get rid of the static key
to avoid the mismanagement, which also helps with the syzbot issue.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53195?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53195?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-53195 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53195 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-53195 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53195 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Dec 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-2024-53195 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2024-53195/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53195/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53195
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53195
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53195

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53195/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.