Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2021-28039

An issue was discovered in the Linux kernel 5.9.x through 5.11.3, as used with Xen. In some less-common configurations, an x86 PV guest OS user can crash a Dom0 or driver domain via a large amount of I/O activity. The issue relates to misuse of guest physical addresses when a configuration has CONFIG_XEN_UNPOPULATED_ALLOC but not CONFIG_XEN_BALLOON_MEMORY_HOTPLUG.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.5, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 4 products from linux, from xen, from netapp and 1 other, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.

Published

2021-03-05T18:15:13.190

Last Modified

2024-11-21T05:59:01.627

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 6.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-131

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	≤ 5.11.3	Yes
Operating System	xen	xen	-	Yes
Application	netapp	cloud_backup	-	Yes
Operating System	netapp	solidfire_baseboard_management_controller_firmware	-	Yes

References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/03/05/2 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-369.html Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=882213990d32fd224340a4533f6318dd152be4b2 ([email protected])
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210409-0001/ Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/03/05/2 Mailing List, Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-369.html Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=882213990d32fd224340a4533f6318dd152be4b2 (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210409-0001/ Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

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 linux'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.