CVE-2021-3611Public exploit

Guest-triggered crash via recursive intel-hda DMA

Published May 11, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Stack overflow in QEMU's Intel HD Audio device before 7.0.0 allows guest OS users to crash the host QEMU process via DMA. The intel_hda_corb_run and intel_hda_response paths let the emulated DMA engine access the controller's own MMIO registers, recursively reentering DMA until the host stack is exhausted. A guest must run under an x86 QEMU instance configured with intel-hda; exploitation terminates that VM's emulator process without reported data access.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.50%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Stack overflow in QEMU's Intel HD Audio device before 7.0.0 allows guest OS users to crash the host QEMU process via DMA. The intel_hda_corb_run and intel_hda_response paths let the emulated DMA engine access the controller's own MMIO registers, recursively reentering DMA until the host stack is exhausted. A guest must run under an x86 QEMU instance configured with intel-hda; exploitation terminates that VM's emulator process without reported data access.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-3611
Published
May 11, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
QEMU Project
Product
QEMU
Classifications
CWE-119, CWE-787, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 11, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=QEMU versions prior to 7.0.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

QEMU Project · QEMUversion=QEMU versions prior to 7.0.0

Published CVSS scores

6.5NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
2.1NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-119Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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