ALPINE-CVE-2019-18423
An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.12.x allowing ARM guest OS users to cause a denial of service via a XENMEM_add_to_physmap hypercall. p2m->max_mapped_gfn is used by the functions p2m_resolve_translation_fault() and p2m_get_entry() to sanity check guest physical frame. The rest of the code in the two functions will assume that there is a valid root table and check that with BUG_ON(). The function p2m_get_root_pointer() will ignore the unused top bits of a guest physical frame. This means that the function p2m_set_entry() will alias the frame. However, p2m->max_mapped_gfn will be updated using the original frame. It would be possible to set p2m->max_mapped_gfn high enough to cover a frame that would lead p2m_get_root_pointer() to return NULL in p2m_get_entry() and p2m_resolve_translation_fault(). Additionally, the sanity check on p2m->max_mapped_gfn is off-by-one allowing "highest mapped + 1" to be considered valid. However, p2m_get_root_pointer() will return NULL. The problem could be triggered with a specially crafted hypercall XENMEM_add_to_physmap{, _batch} followed by an access to an address (via hypercall or direct access) that passes the sanity check but cause p2m_get_root_pointer() to return NULL. A malicious guest administrator may cause a hypervisor crash, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS). Xen version 4.8 and newer are vulnerable. Only Arm systems are vulnerable. x86 systems are not affected.
Risk Scores
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Alpine:v3.16 | xen | 4.0.1-r2, 4.1.0-r0, 4.1.0-r1 |
| Alpine:v3.19 | xen | 4.2.2-r7, 4.0.1-r1, 4.0.1-r2 |
| Alpine:v3.11 | xen | 4.2.2-r4, 4.9.1-r3, 4.9.1-r2 |
| Alpine:v3.13 | xen | 4.9.1-r1, 4.1.1-r2, 4.11.0-r0 |
| Alpine:v3.20 | xen | 4.1.2-r10, 4.0.1-r2, 4.1.0-r2 |
| Alpine:v3.18 | xen | 4.11.0-r1, 4.2.0-r1, 4.0.1-r2 |
| Alpine:v3.17 | xen | 4.2.2-r8, 4.2.2-r0, 4.0.1-r0 |
| Alpine:v3.21 | xen | 4.2.1-r1, 4.2.1-r0, 4.2.0-r7 |
| Alpine:v3.8 | xen | 4.9.0-r0, 4.9.1-r3, 4.9.1-r2 |
| Alpine:v3.14 | xen | 4.2.2-r2, 4.2.2-r11, 4.3.2-r3 |
| Alpine:v3.22 | xen | 4.1.2-r11, 4.10.0-r1, 4.10.0-r2 |
| Alpine:v3.9 | xen | 4.2.1-r11, 4.2.1-r10, 4.2.1-r1 |
| Alpine:v3.15 | xen | 4.0.1-r0, 4.1.3-r0, 4.10.0-r1 |
| Alpine:v3.10 | xen | 0, 4.0.1-r0, 4.0.1-r1 |
| Alpine:v3.23 | xen | 0, 4.0.1-r0, 4.0.1-r1 |
| Alpine:v3.12 | xen | 0, 4.9.1-r3, 4.9.1-r2 |
Timeline
- Oct 31, 2019 CVE Published
- Dec 3, 2025 CVE Updated
- Apr 30, 2026 Distribution Patch