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Full vulnerability report · 2024
CVE-2021-47465High confidence

KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix stack handling in idle_kvm_start_guest()

Linux · Linux

7.1HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
Distribution package intelligence

Ubuntu vendor package status

Canonical’s release and source-package findings are shown separately from local repository availability.

1 package state
Repository candidate not checked

A published vendor fix does not prove that a matching update is enabled and installable on a particular asset. Confirm the local package candidate before scheduling remediation.

Ubuntu releaseSource packageVendor stateFixed versionEvidence
Ubuntu 24.04 LTSnoble · standard archivelinux-raspi-realtimeAffected, no fix publishedCanonical OVAL identifies this running kernel flavour as affected and does not publish a fixed package version in this definition.Not published in this feedCanonical record ↗Source updated 8 Sept 2026
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2021-34470

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix stack handling in idle_kvm_start_guest() In commit 10d91611f426 ("powerpc/64s: Reimplement book3s idle code in C") kvm_start_guest() became idle_kvm_start_guest(). The old code allocated a stack frame on the emergency stack, but didn't use the frame to store anything, and also didn't store anything in its caller's frame. idle_kvm_start_guest() on the other hand is written more like a normal C function, it creates a frame on entry, and also stores CR/LR into its callers frame (per the ABI). The problem is that there is no caller frame on the emergency stack. The emergency stack for a given CPU is allocated with: paca_ptrs[i]->emergency_sp = alloc_stack(limit, i) + THREAD_SIZE; So emergency_sp actually points to the first address above the emergency stack allocation for a given CPU, we must not store above it without first decrementing it to create a frame. This is different to the regular kernel stack, paca->kstack, which is initialised to point at an initial frame that is ready to use. idle_kvm_start_guest() stores the backchain, CR and LR all of which write outside the allocation for the emergency stack. It then creates a stack frame and saves the non-volatile registers. Unfortunately the frame it creates is not large enough to fit the non-volatiles, and so the saving of the non-volatile registers also writes outside the emergency stack allocation. The end result is that we corrupt whatever is at 0-24 bytes, and 112-248 bytes above the emergency stack allocation. In practice this has gone unnoticed because the memory immediately above the emergency stack happens to be used for other stack allocations, either another CPUs mc_emergency_sp or an IRQ stack. See the order of calls to irqstack_early_init() and emergency_stack_init(). The low addresses of another stack are the top of that stack, and so are only used if that stack is under extreme pressue, which essentially never happens in practice - and if it did there's a high likelyhood we'd crash due to that stack overflowing. Still, we shouldn't be corrupting someone else's stack, and it is purely luck that we aren't corrupting something else. To fix it we save CR/LR into the caller's frame using the existing r1 on entry, we then create a SWITCH_FRAME_SIZE frame (which has space for pt_regs) on the emergency stack with the backchain pointing to the existing stack, and then finally we switch to the new frame on the emergency stack.

What

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix stack handling in idle_kvm_start_guest() In commit 10d91611f426 ("powerpc/64s: Reimplement book3s idle code in C") kvm_start_guest() became idle_kvm_start_guest(). The old code allocated a stack frame on the emergency stack, but didn't use the frame to store anything, and also didn't store anything in its caller's frame. idle_kvm_start_guest() on the other hand is written more like a normal C function, it creates a frame on entry, and also stores CR/LR into its callers frame (per the ABI). The problem is that there is no caller frame on the emergency stack. The emergency stack for a given CPU is allocated with: paca_ptrs[i]->emergency_sp = alloc_stack(limit, i) + THREAD_SIZE; So emergency_sp actually points to the first address above the emergency stack allocation for a given CPU, we must not store above it without first decrementing it to create a frame. This is different to the regular kernel stack, paca->kstack, which is initialised to point at an initial frame that is ready to use. idle_kvm_start_guest() stores the backchain, CR and LR all of which write outside the allocation for the emergency stack. It then creates a stack frame and saves the non-volatile registers. Unfortunately the frame it creates is not large enough to fit the non-volatiles, and so the saving of the non-volatile registers also writes outside the emergency stack allocation. The end result is that we corrupt whatever is at 0-24 bytes, and 112-248 bytes above the emergency stack allocation. In practice this has gone unnoticed because the memory immediately above the emergency stack happens to be used for other stack allocations, either another CPUs mc_emergency_sp or an IRQ stack. See the order of calls to irqstack_early_init() and emergency_stack_init(). The low addresses of another stack are the top of that stack, and so are only used if that stack is under extreme pressue, which essentially never happens in practice - and if it did there's a high likelyhood we'd crash due to that stack overflowing. Still, we shouldn't be corrupting someone else's stack, and it is purely luck that we aren't corrupting something else. To fix it we save CR/LR into the caller's frame using the existing r1 on entry, we then create a SWITCH_FRAME_SIZE frame (which has space for pt_regs) on the emergency stack with the backchain pointing to the existing stack, and then finally we switch to the new frame on the emergency stack.

Why

The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may disrupt the affected service.

What

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix stack handling in idle_kvm_start_guest() In commit 10d91611f426 ("powerpc/64s: Reimplement book3s idle code in C") kvm_start_guest() became idle_kvm_start_guest(). The old code allocated a stack frame on the emergency stack, but didn't use the frame to store anything, and also didn't store anything in its caller's frame. idle_kvm_start_guest() on the other hand is written more like a normal C function, it creates a frame on entry, and also stores CR/LR into its callers frame (per the ABI). The problem is that there is no caller frame on the emergency stack. The emergency stack for a given CPU is allocated with: paca_ptrs[i]->emergency_sp = alloc_stack(limit, i) + THREAD_SIZE; So emergency_sp actually points to the first address above the emergency stack allocation for a given CPU, we must not store above it without first decrementing it to create a frame. This is different to the regular kernel stack, paca->kstack, which is initialised to point at an initial frame that is ready to use. idle_kvm_start_guest() stores the backchain, CR and LR all of which write outside the allocation for the emergency stack. It then creates a stack frame and saves the non-volatile registers. Unfortunately the frame it creates is not large enough to fit the non-volatiles, and so the saving of the non-volatile registers also writes outside the emergency stack allocation. The end result is that we corrupt whatever is at 0-24 bytes, and 112-248 bytes above the emergency stack allocation. In practice this has gone unnoticed because the memory immediately above the emergency stack happens to be used for other stack allocations, either another CPUs mc_emergency_sp or an IRQ stack. See the order of calls to irqstack_early_init() and emergency_stack_init(). The low addresses of another stack are the top of that stack, and so are only used if that stack is under extreme pressue, which essentially never happens in practice - and if it did there's a high likelyhood we'd crash due to that stack overflowing. Still, we shouldn't be corrupting someone else's stack, and it is purely luck that we aren't corrupting something else. To fix it we save CR/LR into the caller's frame using the existing r1 on entry, we then create a SWITCH_FRAME_SIZE frame (which has space for pt_regs) on the emergency stack with the backchain pointing to the existing stack, and then finally we switch to the new frame on the emergency stack.

Why

The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may disrupt the affected service.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
local access → Uncontrolled Recursion → disrupt the affected service
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-674

CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion. The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
Denial of serviceCWE-674
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

BSI · German · WID-SEC-W-2024-1197Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen ermöglichen Denial of Service und unspezifische Angriffe

Ein lokaler Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen im Linux-Kernel ausnutzen, um einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand zu erzeugen oder unspezifische Angriffe durchzuführen.

Official advisory
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2025-AVI-1057Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits VMware

d?id=CVE-2021-47422 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47426 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47426 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47428 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47428 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47429 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47429 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47430 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47430 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47438 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47438 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47444 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47444 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47454 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47454 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47457 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47457 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47465 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47465 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47481 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47481 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47483 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47483 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47490 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47490 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47495 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47495 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47497 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47497 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47499 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47499 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47500 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47500 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47505 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=

Official advisory
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2024-AVI-0526Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux de SUSE

d?id=CVE-2021-47456 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47457 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47457 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47458 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47458 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47459 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47459 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47460 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47460 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47461 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47461 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47462 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47462 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47463 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47463 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47464 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47464 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47465 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47465 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47466 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47466 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47467 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47467 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47468 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47468 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47469 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47469 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47470 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47470 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47471 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47471 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47472 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47472 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47473 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=

Official advisory
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2024-AVI-0496Multiples vulnérabilités dans le noyau Linux de SUSE

d?id=CVE-2021-47456 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47457 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47457 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47458 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47458 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47459 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47459 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47460 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47460 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47461 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47461 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47462 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47462 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47463 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47463 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47464 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47464 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47465 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47465 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47466 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47466 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47467 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47467 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47468 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47468 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47469 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47469 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47470 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47470 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47471 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47471 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47472 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47472 Référence CVE CVE-2021-47473 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
10d91611f426d4bafd2a83d966c36da811b2f7ad < 80bbb0bc3a0288442f7fe6fc514f4ee1cb06ccb7; 10d91611f426d4bafd2a83d966c36da811b2f7ad < fbd724c49bead048ae9fc1a5b7bff2fb3e54f855; 10d91611f426d4bafd2a83d966c36da811b2f7ad < 6d077c37c4643394b1bae9682da48164fc147ea8; 10d91611f426d4bafd2a83d966c36da811b2f7ad < 9b4416c5095c20e110c82ae602c254099b83b72f; 5.2
Fixed
< 5.2; 5.4.156 ≤ 5.4.*; 5.10.76 ≤ 5.10.*; 5.14.15 ≤ 5.14.*; 5.15 ≤ *
Action
Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 22 May 2024 · Last source change 5 Aug 2026, 08:47 UTC · CWE-674 · Uncontrolled Recursion

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-34470
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceNIST NVD
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2021-47465 · cve.blacktree.nl