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.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
Debian DLA |
DLA-4008-1 | linux-6.1 security update |
Debian DLA |
DLA-4075-1 | linux security update |
EUVD |
EUVD-2024-51807 | 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. |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7276-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7277-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7310-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7387-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7387-2 | Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7387-3 | Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7388-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7389-1 | Linux kernel (NVIDIA Tegra) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7390-1 | Linux kernel (Xilinx ZynqMP) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7391-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7392-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7392-2 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7392-3 | Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7392-4 | Linux kernel (AWS FIPS) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7393-1 | Linux kernel (FIPS) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7401-1 | Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7407-1 | Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7413-1 | Linux kernel (IoT) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7421-1 | Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7449-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7449-2 | Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7450-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7451-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7452-1 | Linux kernel vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7453-1 | Linux kernel (Real-time) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7458-1 | Linux kernel (IBM) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7459-1 | Linux kernel (Intel IoTG) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7459-2 | Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7463-1 | Linux kernel (IBM) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7468-1 | Linux kernel (Azure, N-Series) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7523-1 | Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi Real-time) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7524-1 | Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7539-1 | Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities |
Ubuntu USN |
USN-7540-1 | Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities |
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 23:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
|
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 21:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
|
Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
epss
|
epss
|
Tue, 04 Mar 2025 06:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Weaknesses | CWE-99 |
Sat, 14 Dec 2024 21:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
|
Wed, 11 Dec 2024 17:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| Weaknesses | NVD-CWE-noinfo | |
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.12:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* |
|
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
|
cvssV3_1
|
Thu, 05 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
threat_severity
|
cvssV3_1
|
Wed, 04 Dec 2024 14:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | 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. | |
| Title | KVM: VMX: Bury Intel PT virtualization (guest/host mode) behind CONFIG_BROKEN | |
| References |
|
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2025-11-03T22:29:37.797Z
Reserved: 2024-11-19T17:17:24.996Z
Link: CVE-2024-53135
No data.
Status : Modified
Published: 2024-12-04T15:15:13.630
Modified: 2025-11-03T23:17:22.800
Link: CVE-2024-53135
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Debian DLA
EUVD
Ubuntu USN