CVE-2026-23553

2.9 LOW
Published: January 28, 2026 Modified: February 09, 2026
View on NVD

Description

In the context switch logic Xen attempts to skip an IBPB in the case of a vCPU returning to a CPU on which it was the previous vCPU to run. While safe for Xen's isolation between vCPUs, this prevents the guest kernel correctly isolating between tasks. Consider: 1) vCPU runs on CPU A, running task 1. 2) vCPU moves to CPU B, idle gets scheduled on A. Xen skips IBPB. 3) On CPU B, guest kernel switches from task 1 to 2, issuing IBPB. 4) vCPU moves back to CPU A. Xen skips IBPB again. Now, task 2 is running on CPU A with task 1's training still in the BTB.

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CVSS v3.x Details

0.0 Low Medium High Critical 10.0
Vector String
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Patch Vendor Advisory Exploit Third Party Advisory
https://xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-479.html
Source: security@xen.org
Mitigation Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/01/27/3
Source: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Mailing List Mitigation Patch Third Party Advisory
http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-479.html
Source: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
Mitigation Patch Vendor Advisory

3 reference(s) from NVD

Quick Stats

CVSS v3 Score
2.9 / 10.0
EPSS (Exploit Probability)
0.0%
5th percentile
Exploitation Status
Not in CISA KEV

Weaknesses (CWE)

Affected Vendors

xen