CVE-2025-21779 KVM: x86: Reject Hyper-V's SEND_IPI hypercalls if local APIC isn't in-kernel
A guest VM can trigger a kernel crash via Hyper-V hypercalls if the local APIC is not in-kernel, requiring specific KVM configurations.
- 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
What is CVE-2025-21779?
CVE-2025-21779 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 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: x86: Reject Hyper-V's SEND_IPI hypercalls if local APIC isn't in-kernel
Advertise support for Hyper-V's SEND_IPI and SEND_IPI_EX hypercalls if and only if the local API is emulated/virtualized by KVM, and explicitly reject said hypercalls if the local APIC is emulated in userspace, i.e. don't rely on userspace to opt-in to KVM_CAP_HYPERV_ENFORCE_CPUID.
Rejecting SEND_IPI and SEND_IPI_EX fixes a NULL-pointer dereference if Hyper-V enlightenments are exposed to the guest without an in-kernel local APIC:
dump_stack+0xbe/0xfd __kasan_report.cold+0x34/0x84 kasan_report+0x3a/0x50 __apic_accept_irq+0x3a/0x5c0 kvm_hv_send_ipi.isra.0+0x34e/0x820 kvm_hv_hypercall+0x8d9/0x9d0 kvm_emulate_hypercall+0x506/0x7e0 __vmx_handle_exit+0x283/0xb60 vmx_handle_exit+0x1d/0xd0 vcpu_enter_guest+0x16b0/0x24c0 vcpu_run+0xc0/0x550 kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x170/0x6d0 kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x413/0xb20 __se_sys_ioctl+0x111/0x160 do_syscal1_64+0x30/0x40 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x67/0xd1
Note, checking the sending vCPU is sufficient, as the per-VM irqchip_mode can't be modified after vCPUs are created, i.e. if one vCPU has an in-kernel local APIC, then all vCPUs have an in-kernel local APIC.
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-21779?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2025-21779?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Is CVE-2025-21779 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-21779 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as AZL-57818, AZL-57959, BELL-CVE-2025-21779, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-21779, GHSA-mmj4-6ppp-mqr2, ROOT-OS-UBUNTU-2404-CVE-2025-21779 and 1 more.