CVE-2024-53135

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: VMX: Bury Intel PT virtualization (guest/host mode) behind CONFIG_BROKEN Hide KVM's pt_mode module param behind CONFIG_BROKEN, i.e. disable support for virtualizing Intel PT via guest/host mode unless BROKEN=y. There are myriad bugs in the implementation, some of which are fatal to the guest, and others which put the stability and health of the host at risk. For guest fatalities, the most glaring issue is that KVM fails to ensure tracing is disabled, and *stays* disabled prior to VM-Enter, which is necessary as hardware disallows loading (the guest's) RTIT_CTL if tracing is enabled (enforced via a VMX consistency check). Per the SDM: If the logical processor is operating with Intel PT enabled (if IA32_RTIT_CTL.TraceEn = 1) at the time of VM entry, the "load IA32_RTIT_CTL" VM-entry control must be 0. On the host side, KVM doesn't validate the guest CPUID configuration provided by userspace, and even worse, uses the guest configuration to decide what MSRs to save/load at VM-Enter and VM-Exit. E.g. configuring guest CPUID to enumerate more address ranges than are supported in hardware will result in KVM trying to passthrough, save, and load non-existent MSRs, which generates a variety of WARNs, ToPA ERRORs in the host, a potential deadlock, etc.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2024-12-04
Last modified 2025-11-03
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Yes

CVSS 3.1 score

6.5

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected versions

Linux kernel versions 5.0 and later are affected. Fixed in 5.4.287, 5.10.231, 5.15.174, 6.1.119, 6.6.63, 6.11.10, 6.12 and their respective stable series.

Affected from
≥ 5.0
Fixed in
✓ 5.4.287 5.4.x ✓ 5.10.231 5.10.x ✓ 5.15.174 5.15.x ✓ 6.1.119 6.1.x ✓ 6.6.63 6.6.x ✓ 6.11.10 6.11.x ✓ 6.12

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2024-53135 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2024-53135?

    CVE-2024-53135 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 6.5 out of 10 . It affects Linux kernel versions from 5.0 onward and has been patched in 5.4.287, 5.10.231, 5.15.174 and others. CVE-2024-53135 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2024-53135?

    CVE-2024-53135 has a CVSS score of 6.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2024-53135?

    Yes — CVE-2024-53135 has been patched. Fixed versions include 5.4.287, 5.10.231, 5.15.174 and others. If you are running Linux kernel 5.0 or later up to the fix versions, apply the relevant patch for your kernel branch.

  • Is CVE-2024-53135 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2024-53135 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.