CVE-2023-4155

Host crash via recursive VMGEXIT stack overflow

Published Sep 13, 2023 · Updated Feb 27, 2025

Race condition in Linux KVM SEV-ES and SEV-SNP allows guest OS users to crash the host through concurrent VMGEXIT handling. The handler reads guest-controlled GHCB fields more than once, allowing concurrent vCPUs to change values between checks and recursively reenter the handler until its kernel stack overflows. Exploitation requires a multi-vCPU SEV-ES or SEV-SNP guest; the vendor reports host escape as theoretical and limited to kernels without CONFIG_VMAP_STACK.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in Linux KVM SEV-ES and SEV-SNP allows guest OS users to crash the host through concurrent VMGEXIT handling. The handler reads guest-controlled GHCB fields more than once, allowing concurrent vCPUs to change values between checks and recursively reenter the handler until its kernel stack overflows. Exploitation requires a multi-vCPU SEV-ES or SEV-SNP guest; the vendor reports host escape as theoretical and limited to kernels without CONFIG_VMAP_STACK.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-4155
Published
Sep 13, 2023
Updated
Feb 27, 2025
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Classifications
CWE-367, T1499
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 13, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 27, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Affected versions are unavailable in this record.
Fedora Project · Fedora LinuxAffected versions are unavailable in this record.
The Linux Kernel Organization · Linux KernelAffected versions are unavailable in this record.
Red Hat · Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9Affected versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.6NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
5.3Red HatCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

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
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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