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

perf/x86/intel: KVM: Mask PEBS_ENABLE loaded for guest with vCPU's value.

When generating the MSR_IA32_PEBS_ENABLE value that will be loaded on
VM-Entry to a KVM guest, mask the value with the vCPU's desired PEBS_ENABLE
value. Consulting only the host kernel's host vs. guest masks results in
running the guest with PEBS enabled even when the guest doesn't want to use
PEBS. Because KVM uses perf events to proxy the guest virtual PMU, simply
looking at exclude_host can't differentiate between events created by host
userspace, and events created by KVM on behalf of the guest.

Running the guest with PEBS unexpectedly enabled typically manifests as
crashes due to a near-infinite stream of #PFs. E.g. if the guest hasn't
written MSR_IA32_DS_AREA, the CPU will hit page faults on address '0' when
trying to record PEBS events.

The issue is most easily reproduced by running `perf kvm top` from before
commit 7b100989b4f6 ("perf evlist: Remove __evlist__add_default") (after
which, `perf kvm top` effectively stopped using PEBS). The userspace side
of perf creates a guest-only PEBS event, which intel_guest_get_msrs()
misconstrues a guest-*owned* PEBS event.

Arguably, this is a userspace bug, as enabling PEBS on guest-only events
simply cannot work, and userspace can kill VMs in many other ways (there
is no danger to the host). However, even if this is considered to be bad
userspace behavior, there's zero downside to perf/KVM restricting PEBS to
guest-owned events.

Note, commit 854250329c02 ("KVM: x86/pmu: Disable guest PEBS temporarily
in two rare situations") fixed the case where host userspace is profiling
KVM *and* userspace, but missed the case where userspace is profiling only
KVM.
Advisories
Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4271-1 linux-6.1 security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-5925-1 linux security update
EUVD EUVD EUVD-2025-15918 In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/x86/intel: KVM: Mask PEBS_ENABLE loaded for guest with vCPU's value. When generating the MSR_IA32_PEBS_ENABLE value that will be loaded on VM-Entry to a KVM guest, mask the value with the vCPU's desired PEBS_ENABLE value. Consulting only the host kernel's host vs. guest masks results in running the guest with PEBS enabled even when the guest doesn't want to use PEBS. Because KVM uses perf events to proxy the guest virtual PMU, simply looking at exclude_host can't differentiate between events created by host userspace, and events created by KVM on behalf of the guest. Running the guest with PEBS unexpectedly enabled typically manifests as crashes due to a near-infinite stream of #PFs. E.g. if the guest hasn't written MSR_IA32_DS_AREA, the CPU will hit page faults on address '0' when trying to record PEBS events. The issue is most easily reproduced by running `perf kvm top` from before commit 7b100989b4f6 ("perf evlist: Remove __evlist__add_default") (after which, `perf kvm top` effectively stopped using PEBS). The userspace side of perf creates a guest-only PEBS event, which intel_guest_get_msrs() misconstrues a guest-*owned* PEBS event. Arguably, this is a userspace bug, as enabling PEBS on guest-only events simply cannot work, and userspace can kill VMs in many other ways (there is no danger to the host). However, even if this is considered to be bad userspace behavior, there's zero downside to perf/KVM restricting PEBS to guest-owned events. Note, commit 854250329c02 ("KVM: x86/pmu: Disable guest PEBS temporarily in two rare situations") fixed the case where host userspace is profiling KVM *and* userspace, but missed the case where userspace is profiling only KVM.
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7649-1 Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7649-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7650-1 Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7665-1 Linux kernel (Oracle) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7665-2 Linux kernel (AWS) vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-7721-1 Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 17:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Debian
Debian debian Linux
Weaknesses NVD-CWE-noinfo
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Debian
Debian debian Linux
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 3.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


Mon, 03 Nov 2025 20:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 13:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics epss

{'score': 0.00045}

epss

{'score': 0.00037}


Wed, 09 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics 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

cvssV3_1

{'score': 3.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L'}

threat_severity

Low


Thu, 22 May 2025 02:45:00 +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, 20 May 2025 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/x86/intel: KVM: Mask PEBS_ENABLE loaded for guest with vCPU's value. When generating the MSR_IA32_PEBS_ENABLE value that will be loaded on VM-Entry to a KVM guest, mask the value with the vCPU's desired PEBS_ENABLE value. Consulting only the host kernel's host vs. guest masks results in running the guest with PEBS enabled even when the guest doesn't want to use PEBS. Because KVM uses perf events to proxy the guest virtual PMU, simply looking at exclude_host can't differentiate between events created by host userspace, and events created by KVM on behalf of the guest. Running the guest with PEBS unexpectedly enabled typically manifests as crashes due to a near-infinite stream of #PFs. E.g. if the guest hasn't written MSR_IA32_DS_AREA, the CPU will hit page faults on address '0' when trying to record PEBS events. The issue is most easily reproduced by running `perf kvm top` from before commit 7b100989b4f6 ("perf evlist: Remove __evlist__add_default") (after which, `perf kvm top` effectively stopped using PEBS). The userspace side of perf creates a guest-only PEBS event, which intel_guest_get_msrs() misconstrues a guest-*owned* PEBS event. Arguably, this is a userspace bug, as enabling PEBS on guest-only events simply cannot work, and userspace can kill VMs in many other ways (there is no danger to the host). However, even if this is considered to be bad userspace behavior, there's zero downside to perf/KVM restricting PEBS to guest-owned events. Note, commit 854250329c02 ("KVM: x86/pmu: Disable guest PEBS temporarily in two rare situations") fixed the case where host userspace is profiling KVM *and* userspace, but missed the case where userspace is profiling only KVM.
Title perf/x86/intel: KVM: Mask PEBS_ENABLE loaded for guest with vCPU's value.
References

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-11-03T19:57:31.811Z

Reserved: 2025-04-16T04:51:23.971Z

Link: CVE-2025-37936

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2025-05-20T16:15:30.443

Modified: 2025-12-19T17:35:02.157

Link: CVE-2025-37936

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Low

Publid Date: 2025-05-20T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2025-37936 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2025-06-27T09:26:50Z

Weaknesses