In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

KVM: nSVM: Check instead of asserting on nested TSC scaling support

Check for nested TSC scaling support on nested SVM VMRUN instead of
asserting that TSC scaling is exposed to L1 if L1's MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO
has diverged from KVM's default. Userspace can trigger the WARN at will
by writing the MSR and then updating guest CPUID to hide the feature
(modifying guest CPUID is allowed anytime before KVM_RUN). E.g. hacking
KVM's state_test selftest to do

vcpu_set_msr(vcpu, MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO, 0);
vcpu_clear_cpuid_feature(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_TSCRATEMSR);

after restoring state in a new VM+vCPU yields an endless supply of:

------------[ cut here ]------------
WARNING: CPU: 164 PID: 62565 at arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c:699
nested_vmcb02_prepare_control+0x3d6/0x3f0 [kvm_amd]
Call Trace:
<TASK>
enter_svm_guest_mode+0x114/0x560 [kvm_amd]
nested_svm_vmrun+0x260/0x330 [kvm_amd]
vmrun_interception+0x29/0x30 [kvm_amd]
svm_invoke_exit_handler+0x35/0x100 [kvm_amd]
svm_handle_exit+0xe7/0x180 [kvm_amd]
kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x1eab/0x2570 [kvm]
kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4c9/0x5b0 [kvm]
__se_sys_ioctl+0x7a/0xc0
__x64_sys_ioctl+0x21/0x30
do_syscall_64+0x41/0x90
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
RIP: 0033:0x45ca1b

Note, the nested #VMEXIT path has the same flaw, but needs a different
fix and will be handled separately.
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.0, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

threat_severity

Moderate


Tue, 07 Oct 2025 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: nSVM: Check instead of asserting on nested TSC scaling support Check for nested TSC scaling support on nested SVM VMRUN instead of asserting that TSC scaling is exposed to L1 if L1's MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO has diverged from KVM's default. Userspace can trigger the WARN at will by writing the MSR and then updating guest CPUID to hide the feature (modifying guest CPUID is allowed anytime before KVM_RUN). E.g. hacking KVM's state_test selftest to do vcpu_set_msr(vcpu, MSR_AMD64_TSC_RATIO, 0); vcpu_clear_cpuid_feature(vcpu, X86_FEATURE_TSCRATEMSR); after restoring state in a new VM+vCPU yields an endless supply of: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 164 PID: 62565 at arch/x86/kvm/svm/nested.c:699 nested_vmcb02_prepare_control+0x3d6/0x3f0 [kvm_amd] Call Trace: <TASK> enter_svm_guest_mode+0x114/0x560 [kvm_amd] nested_svm_vmrun+0x260/0x330 [kvm_amd] vmrun_interception+0x29/0x30 [kvm_amd] svm_invoke_exit_handler+0x35/0x100 [kvm_amd] svm_handle_exit+0xe7/0x180 [kvm_amd] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x1eab/0x2570 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x4c9/0x5b0 [kvm] __se_sys_ioctl+0x7a/0xc0 __x64_sys_ioctl+0x21/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x41/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd RIP: 0033:0x45ca1b Note, the nested #VMEXIT path has the same flaw, but needs a different fix and will be handled separately.
Title KVM: nSVM: Check instead of asserting on nested TSC scaling support
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-10-07T15:21:22.400Z

Reserved: 2025-10-07T15:16:59.662Z

Link: CVE-2023-53663

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-10-07T16:15:50.043

Modified: 2025-10-07T16:15:50.043

Link: CVE-2023-53663

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2025-10-07T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2023-53663 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.