CVE-2017-12188

arch/x86/kvm/mmu.c in the Linux kernel through 4.13.5, when nested virtualisation is used, does not properly traverse guest pagetable entries to resolve a guest virtual address, which allows L1 guest OS users to execute arbitrary code on the host OS or cause a denial of service (incorrect index during page walking, and host OS crash), aka an "MMU potential stack buffer overrun."

From the Ubuntu Security Team

It was discovered that the KVM subsystem in the Linux kernel did not properly keep track of nested levels in guest page tables. A local attacker in a guest VM could use this to cause a denial of service (host OS crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code in the host OS.

Read the notes from the security team

Status

Show unmaintained releases

Package	Ubuntu Release	Status
linux	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	17.10 artful	Fixed 4.13.0-17.20
	17.04 zesty	Fixed 4.10.0-40.44
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not affected
linux-aws	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not affected
linux-aws-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-aws-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-aws-fips	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Ignored end of standard support
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-aws-hwe	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-azure	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Ignored superseded by linux-azure-5.3
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Fixed 4.11.0-1015.15
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not affected
linux-azure-4.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-azure-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-azure-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-azure-fde	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Ignored superseded by linux-azure-fde-5.15
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-azure-fde-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-azure-fips	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Ignored end of standard support
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-bluefield	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-euclid	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-fips	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-flo	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Ignored end of standard support
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gcp	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Ignored superseded by linux-gcp-5.3
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Fixed 4.10.0-1009.9
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gcp-4.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gcp-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gcp-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gcp-fips	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Ignored end of standard support
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gke	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Ignored end of kernel support
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gkeop	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-gkeop-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-goldfish	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-grouper	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-hwe	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Ignored replaced by linux-hwe-5.4
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Fixed 4.13.0-32.35~16.04.1
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-hwe-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-hwe-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-hwe-6.8	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-hwe-edge	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Ignored superseded by linux-hwe-5.4
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Fixed 4.10.0-40.44~16.04.1
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-ibm	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-ibm-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-ibm-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-intel	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-intel-iotg	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-intel-iotg-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-intel-iot-realtime	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-iot	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-kvm	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lowlatency	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.8	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-quantal	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-raring	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-saucy	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-trusty	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-utopic	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-vivid	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Ignored end of life, was needs-triage
linux-lts-wily	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-lts-xenial	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not affected
linux-maguro	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-mako	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Ignored end of standard support
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-manta	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-nvidia	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-nvidia-6.5	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-nvidia-6.8	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-nvidia-lowlatency	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-oem	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Ignored replaced by linux-hwe-5.4
	17.10 artful	Not in release
	17.04 zesty	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-oem-6.8	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-oracle	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-oracle-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-oracle-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-raspi	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-raspi2	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Ignored replaced by linux-raspi
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	17.10 artful	Fixed 4.13.0-1006.6
	17.04 zesty	Fixed 4.10.0-1021.24
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-raspi-5.4	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-raspi-realtime	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-realtime	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Ignored superseded by Ubuntu Pro ppa version
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-riscv	24.04 LTS noble	Not affected
	22.04 LTS jammy	Ignored end of kernel support
	20.04 LTS focal	Ignored superseded by linux-riscv-5.8
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-riscv-5.15	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-riscv-6.8	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-snapdragon	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not in release
	20.04 LTS focal	Not in release
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not affected
	17.10 artful	Not affected
	17.04 zesty	Not affected
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not affected
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release
linux-xilinx-zynqmp	24.04 LTS noble	Not in release
	22.04 LTS jammy	Not affected
	20.04 LTS focal	Not affected
	18.04 LTS bionic	Not in release
	16.04 LTS xenial	Not in release
	14.04 LTS trusty	Not in release

Notes

sbeattie

fd19d3b45164466a4adce7cbff448ba9189e1427 might not be strictly necessary

Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package	Patch details
linux	Introduced by 6bb69c9, fixed by 829ee27 Introduced by 6bb69c9, fixed by fd19d3b

Severity score breakdown

Parameter	Value
Base score	7.8 · High
Attack vector	Local
Attack complexity	High
Privileges required	Low
User interaction	None
Scope	Changed
Confidentiality	High
Integrity impact	High
Availability impact	High
Vector	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

USN-3487-1
Linux kernel vulnerabilities
21 November 2017

USN-3484-2
Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerability
21 November 2017

USN-3484-3
Linux kernel (GCP) vulnerability
21 November 2017

USN-3484-1
Linux kernel vulnerability
21 November 2017

USN-3488-1
Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerability
21 November 2017