CVE-2020-8834

MediumCVSS 6.5/10Last modified Jun 17, 2026

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: Book3S PR: Move kvmppc_save_tm/kvmppc_restore_tm to separate file")

Metrics

CVSS 3.1 6.5/10CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness enumeration

Affected software

No affected versions have been published.

Timeline

Published
Apr 9, 2020
Last modified
Jun 17, 2026
NVD status
Modified

Related CVEs from 2020

CVE-2020-88357.8In the Linux kernel 5.5.0 and newer, the bpf verifier (kernel/bpf/verifier.c) did not properly restrict the register bounds for 32-bit operaCVE-2020-88386.4An issue was discovered in Zoho ManageEngine AssetExplorer 6.5. During an upgrade of the Windows agent, it does not validate the source and CVE-2020-88396.1Stored XSS was discovered on CHIYU BF-430 232/485 TCP/IP Converter devices before 1.16.00, as demonstrated by the /if.cgi TF_submask field.CVE-2020-88409.8FasterXML jackson-databind 2.0.0 through 2.9.10.2 lacks certain xbean-reflect/JNDI blocking, as demonstrated by org.apache.xbean.propertyediCVE-2020-88418.8An issue was discovered in TestLink 1.9.19. The relation_type parameter of the lib/requirements/reqSearch.php endpoint is vulnerable to authCVE-2020-88437.4An issue was discovered in Istio 1.3 through 1.3.6. Under certain circumstances, it is possible to bypass a specifically configured Mixer poCVE-2020-88447.8This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit Reader 9.6.0.25114. User interactionCVE-2020-88457.8This vulnerability allows remote atackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit PhantomPDF 9.6.0.25114. User interactCVE-2020-88467.8This vulnerability allows remote atackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit PhantomPDF 9.6.0.25114. User interactCVE-2020-88477.8This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit Reader 9.7.0.29455. User interactionCVE-2020-88487.8This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit Reader 9.7.0.29455. User interactionCVE-2020-88497.8This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Foxit Reader 9.7.0.29455. User interaction
CVE-2020-8834: Medium severity, CVSS 6.5 | Vulnix