Guest data disclosure via unmitigated hypercall returns
Published Dec 24, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Information disclosure in the Linux kernel's x86 Xen guest support allows local users to read protected guest data. The Xen-provided hypercall page executes whole functions containing untransformed return instructions, bypassing guest-kernel rethunk or safe-ret speculation defenses. Exposure requires an x86 Xen guest using affected return-instruction mitigations; Arm systems are unaffected, and integrity or availability impact is not reported.
Summary
What happened
Information disclosure in the Linux kernel's x86 Xen guest support allows local users to read protected guest data. The Xen-provided hypercall page executes whole functions containing untransformed return instructions, bypassing guest-kernel rethunk or safe-ret speculation defenses. Exposure requires an x86 Xen guest using affected return-instruction mitigations; Arm systems are unaffected, and integrity or availability impact is not reported.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-53241
- Published
- Dec 24, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 24, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=2.6.27
- Affected versionversion=cdacc1278b12d929f9a053c245ff3d16eb7af9f8 <05df6e6cd9a76b778aee33c3c18c9f3b3566d4a5
- Affected versionversion=cdacc1278b12d929f9a053c245ff3d16eb7af9f8 <82c211ead1ec440dbf81727e17b03b5e3c44b93d
- Affected versionversion=cdacc1278b12d929f9a053c245ff3d16eb7af9f8 <a2796dff62d6c6bfc5fbebdf2bee0d5ac0438906
- Affected versionversion=cdacc1278b12d929f9a053c245ff3d16eb7af9f8 <c7b4cfa6213a44fa48714186dfdf125072d036e3
- Affected versionversion=cdacc1278b12d929f9a053c245ff3d16eb7af9f8 <f7c3fdad0a474062d566aae3289d490d7e702d30
- Affected versionversion=cdacc1278b12d929f9a053c245ff3d16eb7af9f8 <fa719857f613fed94a79da055b13ca51214c694f
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
No sourced classifications are available.
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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