# CVE-2024-53196: KVM: arm64: Don't retire aborted MMIO instruction

> A flaw in Linux kernel KVM allows userspace to trigger a kernel warning and potential denial of service by improperly handling aborted MMIO instructions.

- **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-68306, BELL-CVE-2024-53196, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53196, GHSA-6jh5-fcvp-frc9, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2024-53196, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2204-CVE-2024-53196, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53196

## What is CVE-2024-53196?

CVE-2024-53196 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: Don't retire aborted MMIO instruction

Returning an abort to the guest for an unsupported MMIO access is a
documented feature of the KVM UAPI. Nevertheless, it's clear that this
plumbing has seen limited testing, since userspace can trivially cause a
WARN in the MMIO return:

  WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 30558 at arch/arm64/include/asm/kvm_emulate.h:536 kvm_handle_mmio_return+0x46c/0x5c4 arch/arm64/include/asm/kvm_emulate.h:536
  Call trace:
   kvm_handle_mmio_return+0x46c/0x5c4 arch/arm64/include/asm/kvm_emulate.h:536
   kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x98/0x15b4 arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c:1133
   kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x75c/0xa78 virt/kvm/kvm_main.c:4487
   __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:51 [inline]
   __se_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:893 [inline]
   __arm64_sys_ioctl+0x14c/0x1c8 fs/ioctl.c:893
   __invoke_syscall arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:35 [inline]
   invoke_syscall+0x98/0x2b8 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:49
   el0_svc_common+0x1e0/0x23c arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:132
   do_el0_svc+0x48/0x58 arch/arm64/kernel/syscall.c:151
   el0_svc+0x38/0x68 arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:712
   el0t_64_sync_handler+0x90/0xfc arch/arm64/kernel/entry-common.c:730
   el0t_64_sync+0x190/0x194 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S:598

The splat is complaining that KVM is advancing PC while an exception is
pending, i.e. that KVM is retiring the MMIO instruction despite a
pending synchronous external abort. Womp womp.

Fix the glaring UAPI bug by skipping over all the MMIO emulation in
case there is a pending synchronous exception. Note that while userspace
is capable of pending an asynchronous exception (SError, IRQ, or FIQ),
it is still safe to retire the MMIO instruction in this case as (1) they
are by definition asynchronous, and (2) KVM relies on hardware support
for pending/delivering these exceptions instead of the software state
machine for advancing PC.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53196?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53196?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-53196 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53196 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-2024-53196 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53196 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-2024-53196 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-2024-53196/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53196/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53196
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53196
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53196

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53196/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.