CVE-2020-8834
6.5 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2020-8834 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting linux linux_kernel. It was published on April 9, 2020 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
KVM in the Linux kernel on Power8 processors has a conflicting use of HSTATE_HOST_R1 to store r1 state in kvmppc_hv_entry plus in kvmppc_{save,restore}_tm, leading to a stack corruption. Because of this, an attacker with the ability run code in kernel space of a guest VM can cause the host kernel to panic. There were two commits that, according to the reporter, introduced the vulnerability: f024ee098476 ("KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Pull out TM state save/restore into separate procedures") 87a11bb6a7f7 ("KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Work around XER[SO] bug in fake suspend mode") The former landed in 4.8, the latter in 4.17. This was fixed without realizing the impact in 4.18 with the following three commits, though it's believed the first is the only strictly necessary commit: 6f597c6b63b6 ("KVM: PPC: Book3S PR: Add guest MSR parameter for kvmppc_save_tm()/kvmppc_restore_tm()") 7b0e827c6970 ("KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Factor fake-suspend handling out of kvmppc_save/restore_tm") 009c872a8bc4 ("KVM: PPC: Bo
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
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References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2020-8834?
CVE-2020-8834 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting linux linux_kernel. It was published on April 9, 2020 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2020-8834?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2020-8834?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2020-8834?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2020-8834 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
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