CVE-2026-23560

Pool-admin escalation via system-domain flag write

Published Jul 9, 2026 · Updated Jul 9, 2026

Improper privilege management in all Xen Project XAPI versions allows local users with vm-admin access to gain pool-admin privileges. The VM.other_config setter permits vm-admin callers to write is_system_domain, causing a controlled VM to receive privileged system-domain treatment. Exposure requires pool RBAC and a lower-tier administrator assignment; the marked VM remains outside certain host or pool operations and may be hidden by management tooling.

CVSS severity9.4
Critical
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

Improper privilege management in all Xen Project XAPI versions allows local users with vm-admin access to gain pool-admin privileges. The VM.other_config setter permits vm-admin callers to write is_system_domain, causing a controlled VM to receive privileged system-domain treatment. Exposure requires pool RBAC and a lower-tier administrator assignment; the marked VM remains outside certain host or pool operations and may be hidden by management tooling.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-23560
Published
Jul 9, 2026
Updated
Jul 9, 2026
Vendor
Xen Project
Product
XAPI
Classifications
CWE-250, CAPEC-233, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 9, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=all

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Xen Project · XAPIversion=all

Published CVSS scores

9.4Xen ProjectCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA: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.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-250Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
CAPEC-233Privilege Escalation
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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