# CVE-2024-53214: vfio/pci: Properly hide first-in-list PCIe extended capability

> A flaw in the Linux kernel's VFIO PCI driver allows out-of-bounds access when hiding the first PCIe extended capability, potentially causing a crash or information leak.

- **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 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2024-53214, DEBIAN-CVE-2024-53214, GHSA-4rwh-4cv9-9p66, UBUNTU-CVE-2024-53214

## What is CVE-2024-53214?

CVE-2024-53214 is a high-severity memory corruption 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:

vfio/pci: Properly hide first-in-list PCIe extended capability

There are cases where a PCIe extended capability should be hidden from
the user. For example, an unknown capability (i.e., capability with ID
greater than PCI_EXT_CAP_ID_MAX) or a capability that is intentionally
chosen to be hidden from the user.

Hiding a capability is done by virtualizing and modifying the 'Next
Capability Offset' field of the previous capability so it points to the
capability after the one that should be hidden.

The special case where the first capability in the list should be hidden
is handled differently because there is no previous capability that can
be modified. In this case, the capability ID and version are zeroed
while leaving the next pointer intact. This hides the capability and
leaves an anchor for the rest of the capability list.

However, today, hiding the first capability in the list is not done
properly if the capability is unknown, as struct
vfio_pci_core_device->pci_config_map is set to the capability ID during
initialization but the capability ID is not properly checked later when
used in vfio_config_do_rw(). This leads to the following warning [1] and
to an out-of-bounds access to ecap_perms array.

Fix it by checking cap_id in vfio_config_do_rw(), and if it is greater
than PCI_EXT_CAP_ID_MAX, use an alternative struct perm_bits for direct
read only access instead of the ecap_perms array.

Note that this is safe since the above is the only case where cap_id can
exceed PCI_EXT_CAP_ID_MAX (except for the special capabilities, which
are already checked before).

[1]

WARNING: CPU: 118 PID: 5329 at drivers/vfio/pci/vfio_pci_config.c:1900 vfio_pci_config_rw+0x395/0x430 [vfio_pci_core]
CPU: 118 UID: 0 PID: 5329 Comm: simx-qemu-syste Not tainted 6.12.0+ #1
(snip)
Call Trace:
 <TASK>
 ? show_regs+0x69/0x80
 ? __warn+0x8d/0x140
 ? vfio_pci_config_rw+0x395/0x430 [vfio_pci_core]
 ? report_bug+0x18f/0x1a0
 ? handle_bug+0x63/0xa0
 ? exc_invalid_op+0x19/0x70
 ? asm_exc_invalid_op+0x1b/0x20
 ? vfio_pci_config_rw+0x395/0x430 [vfio_pci_core]
 ? vfio_pci_config_rw+0x244/0x430 [vfio_pci_core]
 vfio_pci_rw+0x101/0x1b0 [vfio_pci_core]
 vfio_pci_core_read+0x1d/0x30 [vfio_pci_core]
 vfio_device_fops_read+0x27/0x40 [vfio]
 vfs_read+0xbd/0x340
 ? vfio_device_fops_unl_ioctl+0xbb/0x740 [vfio]
 ? __rseq_handle_notify_resume+0xa4/0x4b0
 __x64_sys_pread64+0x96/0xc0
 x64_sys_call+0x1c3d/0x20d0
 do_syscall_64+0x4d/0x120
 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e

Weakness: CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Array Index)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-53214?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-53214?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2024-53214 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-53214 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-2024-53214 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-53214 is a high-severity memory corruption 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-2024-53214 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-2024-53214/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53214/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-53214
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53214
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-53214

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53214/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.
