Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2015-8554


Buffer overflow in hw/pt-msi.c in Xen 4.6.x and earlier, when using the qemu-xen-traditional (aka qemu-dm) device model, allows local x86 HVM guest administrators to gain privileges by leveraging a system with access to a passed-through MSI-X capable physical PCI device and MSI-X table entries, related to a "write path."


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5, requiring local system access to exploit but requires specific conditions to be met without requiring user interaction . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from xen organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2016, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.


Published

2016-04-14T14:59:05.223

Last Modified

2025-04-12T10:46:40.837

Status

Deferred

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 7.5 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:M/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

  • Access Vector: LOCAL
  • Access Complexity: MEDIUM
  • Authentication: SINGLE
  • Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
  • Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
  • Availability Impact: COMPLETE
Exploitability Score

2.7

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-119

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Operating System xen xen ≤ 4.6.1 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For xen's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.