GCVE Workshop - 22 September 2026 (14:00-18:00), Luxembourg Before The Vulnopticon Conference - Registration

CVE-2021-4093 (GCVE-0-2021-4093)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2022-02-18 17:50 – Updated: 2024-08-03 17:16
VLAI
Summary
A flaw was found in the KVM's AMD code for supporting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Encrypted State (SEV-ES). A KVM guest using SEV-ES can trigger out-of-bounds reads and writes in the host kernel via a malicious VMGEXIT for a string I/O instruction (for example, outs or ins) using the exit reason SVM_EXIT_IOIO. This issue results in a crash of the entire system or a potential guest-to-host escape scenario.
CWE
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
n/a kernel Affected: kernel 5.15
Show details on NVD website

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2024-08-03T17:16:03.525Z",
          "orgId": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "shortName": "CVE"
        },
        "references": [
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222"
          }
        ],
        "title": "CVE Program Container"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "kernel",
          "vendor": "n/a",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "kernel 5.15"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "A flaw was found in the KVM\u0027s AMD code for supporting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Encrypted State (SEV-ES). A KVM guest using SEV-ES can trigger out-of-bounds reads and writes in the host kernel via a malicious VMGEXIT for a string I/O instruction (for example, outs or ins) using the exit reason SVM_EXIT_IOIO. This issue results in a crash of the entire system or a potential guest-to-host escape scenario."
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-125",
              "description": "(CWE-125|CWE-787)",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2022-02-18T17:50:37.000Z",
        "orgId": "53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749",
        "shortName": "redhat"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222"
        }
      ],
      "x_legacyV4Record": {
        "CVE_data_meta": {
          "ASSIGNER": "secalert@redhat.com",
          "ID": "CVE-2021-4093",
          "STATE": "PUBLIC"
        },
        "affects": {
          "vendor": {
            "vendor_data": [
              {
                "product": {
                  "product_data": [
                    {
                      "product_name": "kernel",
                      "version": {
                        "version_data": [
                          {
                            "version_value": "kernel 5.15"
                          }
                        ]
                      }
                    }
                  ]
                },
                "vendor_name": "n/a"
              }
            ]
          }
        },
        "data_format": "MITRE",
        "data_type": "CVE",
        "data_version": "4.0",
        "description": {
          "description_data": [
            {
              "lang": "eng",
              "value": "A flaw was found in the KVM\u0027s AMD code for supporting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Encrypted State (SEV-ES). A KVM guest using SEV-ES can trigger out-of-bounds reads and writes in the host kernel via a malicious VMGEXIT for a string I/O instruction (for example, outs or ins) using the exit reason SVM_EXIT_IOIO. This issue results in a crash of the entire system or a potential guest-to-host escape scenario."
            }
          ]
        },
        "problemtype": {
          "problemtype_data": [
            {
              "description": [
                {
                  "lang": "eng",
                  "value": "(CWE-125|CWE-787)"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        "references": {
          "reference_data": [
            {
              "name": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584"
            },
            {
              "name": "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "53f830b8-0a3f-465b-8143-3b8a9948e749",
    "assignerShortName": "redhat",
    "cveId": "CVE-2021-4093",
    "datePublished": "2022-02-18T17:50:37.000Z",
    "dateReserved": "2021-12-10T00:00:00.000Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2024-08-03T17:16:03.525Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.1",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "date": "2026-09-15",
      "epss": "0.00419",
      "percentile": "0.35453"
    },
    "fkie_nvd": {
      "configurations": "[{\"nodes\": [{\"operator\": \"OR\", \"negate\": false, \"cpeMatch\": [{\"vulnerable\": true, \"criteria\": \"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\", \"versionStartIncluding\": \"5.11\", \"versionEndExcluding\": \"5.14.16\", \"matchCriteriaId\": \"2681B950-4548-4649-A9E1-4124B59FC09C\"}]}]}, {\"nodes\": [{\"operator\": \"OR\", \"negate\": false, \"cpeMatch\": [{\"vulnerable\": true, \"criteria\": \"cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\", \"matchCriteriaId\": \"F4CFF558-3C47-480D-A2F0-BABF26042943\"}]}]}, {\"nodes\": [{\"operator\": \"OR\", \"negate\": false, \"cpeMatch\": [{\"vulnerable\": true, \"criteria\": \"cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\", \"matchCriteriaId\": \"80E516C0-98A4-4ADE-B69F-66A772E2BAAA\"}]}]}, {\"nodes\": [{\"operator\": \"OR\", \"negate\": false, \"cpeMatch\": [{\"vulnerable\": true, \"criteria\": \"cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*\", \"matchCriteriaId\": \"902B8056-9E37-443B-8905-8AA93E2447FB\"}, {\"vulnerable\": true, \"criteria\": \"cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:21.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\", \"matchCriteriaId\": \"AAE4D2D0-CEEB-416F-8BC5-A7987DF56190\"}]}]}]",
      "descriptions": "[{\"lang\": \"en\", \"value\": \"A flaw was found in the KVM\u0027s AMD code for supporting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Encrypted State (SEV-ES). A KVM guest using SEV-ES can trigger out-of-bounds reads and writes in the host kernel via a malicious VMGEXIT for a string I/O instruction (for example, outs or ins) using the exit reason SVM_EXIT_IOIO. This issue results in a crash of the entire system or a potential guest-to-host escape scenario.\"}, {\"lang\": \"es\", \"value\": \"Se ha encontrado un fallo en el c\\u00f3digo de AMD de KVM para soportar la Virtualizaci\\u00f3n Segura Encriptada-Estado Encriptado (SEV-ES). Un hu\\u00e9sped de KVM que use SEV-ES puede desencadenar lecturas y escrituras fuera de l\\u00edmites en el n\\u00facleo anfitri\\u00f3n por medio de un VMGEXIT malicioso para una instrucci\\u00f3n de E/S de cadena (por ejemplo, outs o ins) usando el motivo de salida SVM_EXIT_IOIO. Este problema resulta en un bloqueo de todo el sistema o en un potencial escenario de escape del hu\\u00e9sped al host\"}]",
      "id": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "lastModified": "2024-11-21T06:36:53.303",
      "metrics": "{\"cvssMetricV31\": [{\"source\": \"nvd@nist.gov\", \"type\": \"Primary\", \"cvssData\": {\"version\": \"3.1\", \"vectorString\": \"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H\", \"baseScore\": 8.8, \"baseSeverity\": \"HIGH\", \"attackVector\": \"LOCAL\", \"attackComplexity\": \"LOW\", \"privilegesRequired\": \"LOW\", \"userInteraction\": \"NONE\", \"scope\": \"CHANGED\", \"confidentialityImpact\": \"HIGH\", \"integrityImpact\": \"HIGH\", \"availabilityImpact\": \"HIGH\"}, \"exploitabilityScore\": 2.0, \"impactScore\": 6.0}], \"cvssMetricV2\": [{\"source\": \"nvd@nist.gov\", \"type\": \"Primary\", \"cvssData\": {\"version\": \"2.0\", \"vectorString\": \"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C\", \"baseScore\": 7.2, \"accessVector\": \"LOCAL\", \"accessComplexity\": \"LOW\", \"authentication\": \"NONE\", \"confidentialityImpact\": \"COMPLETE\", \"integrityImpact\": \"COMPLETE\", \"availabilityImpact\": \"COMPLETE\"}, \"baseSeverity\": \"HIGH\", \"exploitabilityScore\": 3.9, \"impactScore\": 10.0, \"acInsufInfo\": false, \"obtainAllPrivilege\": false, \"obtainUserPrivilege\": false, \"obtainOtherPrivilege\": false, \"userInteractionRequired\": false}]}",
      "published": "2022-02-18T18:15:10.363",
      "references": "[{\"url\": \"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222\", \"source\": \"secalert@redhat.com\", \"tags\": [\"Exploit\", \"Mailing List\", \"Patch\", \"Third Party Advisory\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584\", \"source\": \"secalert@redhat.com\", \"tags\": [\"Issue Tracking\", \"Patch\", \"Third Party Advisory\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222\", \"source\": \"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108\", \"tags\": [\"Exploit\", \"Mailing List\", \"Patch\", \"Third Party Advisory\"]}, {\"url\": \"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584\", \"source\": \"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108\", \"tags\": [\"Issue Tracking\", \"Patch\", \"Third Party Advisory\"]}]",
      "sourceIdentifier": "secalert@redhat.com",
      "vulnStatus": "Modified",
      "weaknesses": "[{\"source\": \"secalert@redhat.com\", \"type\": \"Secondary\", \"description\": [{\"lang\": \"en\", \"value\": \"CWE-125\"}]}, {\"source\": \"nvd@nist.gov\", \"type\": \"Primary\", \"description\": [{\"lang\": \"en\", \"value\": \"CWE-125\"}, {\"lang\": \"en\", \"value\": \"CWE-787\"}]}]"
    },
    "microsoft_vex": {
      "current_release_date": "2022-03-01T00:00:00.000Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "id": "msrc_CVE-2021-4093",
      "initial_release_date": "2022-02-02T00:00:00.000Z",
      "product_status:fixed": "1",
      "product_status:known_affected": "1",
      "source": "Microsoft CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "A flaw was found in the KVM\u0027s AMD code for supporting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Encrypted State (SEV-ES). A KVM guest using SEV-ES can trigger out-of-bounds reads and writes in the host kernel via a malicious VMGEXIT for a string I/O instruction (for example outs or ins) using the exit reason SVM_EXIT_IOIO. This issue results in a crash of the entire system or a potential guest-to-host escape scenario.",
      "url": "https://msrc.microsoft.com/csaf/vex/2022/msrc_cve-2021-4093.json",
      "version": "1"
    },
    "nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2021-4093\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"secalert@redhat.com\",\"published\":\"2022-02-18T18:15:10.363\",\"lastModified\":\"2026-06-17T04:19:01.410\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Modified\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"A flaw was found in the KVM\u0027s AMD code for supporting the Secure Encrypted Virtualization-Encrypted State (SEV-ES). A KVM guest using SEV-ES can trigger out-of-bounds reads and writes in the host kernel via a malicious VMGEXIT for a string I/O instruction (for example, outs or ins) using the exit reason SVM_EXIT_IOIO. This issue results in a crash of the entire system or a potential guest-to-host escape scenario.\"},{\"lang\":\"es\",\"value\":\"Se ha encontrado un fallo en el c\u00f3digo de AMD de KVM para soportar la Virtualizaci\u00f3n Segura Encriptada-Estado Encriptado (SEV-ES). Un hu\u00e9sped de KVM que use SEV-ES puede desencadenar lecturas y escrituras fuera de l\u00edmites en el n\u00facleo anfitri\u00f3n por medio de un VMGEXIT malicioso para una instrucci\u00f3n de E/S de cadena (por ejemplo, outs o ins) usando el motivo de salida SVM_EXIT_IOIO. Este problema resulta en un bloqueo de todo el sistema o en un potencial escenario de escape del hu\u00e9sped al host\"}],\"affected\":[{\"source\":\"secalert@redhat.com\",\"affectedData\":[{\"vendor\":\"n/a\",\"product\":\"kernel\",\"versions\":[{\"version\":\"kernel 5.15\",\"status\":\"affected\"}]}]}],\"metrics\":{\"cvssMetricV31\":[{\"source\":\"nvd@nist.gov\",\"type\":\"Primary\",\"cvssData\":{\"version\":\"3.1\",\"vectorString\":\"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H\",\"baseScore\":8.8,\"baseSeverity\":\"HIGH\",\"attackVector\":\"LOCAL\",\"attackComplexity\":\"LOW\",\"privilegesRequired\":\"LOW\",\"userInteraction\":\"NONE\",\"scope\":\"CHANGED\",\"confidentialityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"integrityImpact\":\"HIGH\",\"availabilityImpact\":\"HIGH\"},\"exploitabilityScore\":2.0,\"impactScore\":6.0}],\"cvssMetricV2\":[{\"source\":\"nvd@nist.gov\",\"type\":\"Primary\",\"cvssData\":{\"version\":\"2.0\",\"vectorString\":\"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C\",\"baseScore\":7.2,\"accessVector\":\"LOCAL\",\"accessComplexity\":\"LOW\",\"authentication\":\"NONE\",\"confidentialityImpact\":\"COMPLETE\",\"integrityImpact\":\"COMPLETE\",\"availabilityImpact\":\"COMPLETE\"},\"baseSeverity\":\"HIGH\",\"exploitabilityScore\":3.9,\"impactScore\":10.0,\"acInsufInfo\":false,\"obtainAllPrivilege\":false,\"obtainUserPrivilege\":false,\"obtainOtherPrivilege\":false,\"userInteractionRequired\":false}]},\"weaknesses\":[{\"source\":\"secalert@redhat.com\",\"type\":\"Secondary\",\"description\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"CWE-125\"}]},{\"source\":\"nvd@nist.gov\",\"type\":\"Primary\",\"description\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"CWE-125\"},{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"CWE-787\"}]}],\"configurations\":[{\"nodes\":[{\"operator\":\"OR\",\"negate\":false,\"cpeMatch\":[{\"vulnerable\":true,\"criteria\":\"cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\",\"versionStartIncluding\":\"5.11\",\"versionEndExcluding\":\"5.14.16\",\"matchCriteriaId\":\"2681B950-4548-4649-A9E1-4124B59FC09C\"}]}]},{\"nodes\":[{\"operator\":\"OR\",\"negate\":false,\"cpeMatch\":[{\"vulnerable\":true,\"criteria\":\"cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\",\"matchCriteriaId\":\"F4CFF558-3C47-480D-A2F0-BABF26042943\"}]}]},{\"nodes\":[{\"operator\":\"OR\",\"negate\":false,\"cpeMatch\":[{\"vulnerable\":true,\"criteria\":\"cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\",\"matchCriteriaId\":\"80E516C0-98A4-4ADE-B69F-66A772E2BAAA\"}]}]},{\"nodes\":[{\"operator\":\"OR\",\"negate\":false,\"cpeMatch\":[{\"vulnerable\":true,\"criteria\":\"cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:20.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*\",\"matchCriteriaId\":\"902B8056-9E37-443B-8905-8AA93E2447FB\"},{\"vulnerable\":true,\"criteria\":\"cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:21.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*\",\"matchCriteriaId\":\"AAE4D2D0-CEEB-416F-8BC5-A7987DF56190\"}]}]}],\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222\",\"source\":\"secalert@redhat.com\",\"tags\":[\"Exploit\",\"Mailing List\",\"Patch\",\"Third Party Advisory\"]},{\"url\":\"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584\",\"source\":\"secalert@redhat.com\",\"tags\":[\"Issue Tracking\",\"Patch\",\"Third Party Advisory\"]},{\"url\":\"https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=2222\",\"source\":\"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108\",\"tags\":[\"Exploit\",\"Mailing List\",\"Patch\",\"Third Party Advisory\"]},{\"url\":\"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2028584\",\"source\":\"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108\",\"tags\":[\"Issue Tracking\",\"Patch\",\"Third Party Advisory\"]}]}}",
    "redhat_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "Moderate",
      "current_release_date": "2026-06-28T07:48:58+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "id": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "initial_release_date": "2021-11-22T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:fixed": "150",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "149",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "kernel: KVM: SVM: out-of-bounds read/write in sev_es_string_io",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2021/cve-2021-4093.json",
      "version": "3"
    },
    "suse_vex": {
      "aggregate_severity": "important",
      "current_release_date": "2026-08-31T02:09:54Z",
      "cve": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "id": "CVE-2021-4093",
      "initial_release_date": "2023-02-15T03:48:01Z",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "388",
      "product_status:recommended": "20",
      "source": "SUSE CSAF VEX",
      "status": "interim",
      "title": "SUSE CVE CVE-2021-4093",
      "url": "https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/csaf-vex/cve-2021-4093.json",
      "version": "15"
    }
  }
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.


Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Loading…

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

Loading…

Loading…

Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.


Loading…