Host hang via interrupt-disabled SKB free
Published Dec 7, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025
Improper locking in the Linux xen-netback driver allows guest OS users to hang a Xen host through a paravirtualized network interface. In xenvif_start_xmit(), packet-drop handling calls kfree_skb() inside a spin_lock_irqsave-protected section, freeing the socket buffer while interrupts are disabled and allowing a deadlock. Reachability requires a malicious guest using the host's Linux kernel-based xen-netback backend; the deadlock interrupts host service.
Summary
What happened
Improper locking in the Linux xen-netback driver allows guest OS users to hang a Xen host through a paravirtualized network interface. In xenvif_start_xmit(), packet-drop handling calls kfree_skb() inside a spin_lock_irqsave-protected section, freeing the socket buffer while interrupts are disabled and allowing a deadlock. Reachability requires a malicious guest using the host's Linux kernel-based xen-netback backend; the deadlock interrupts host service.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-42328
- Published
- Dec 7, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 23, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-667, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- Unavailable
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 7, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
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Technologies
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