Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2021-46978

high Nessus Plugin ID 229765

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

- In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: nVMX: Always make an attempt to map eVMCS after migration When enlightened VMCS is in use and nested state is migrated with vmx_get_nested_state()/vmx_set_nested_state() KVM can't map evmcs page right away: evmcs gpa is not 'struct kvm_vmx_nested_state_hdr' and we can't read it from VP assist page because userspace may decide to restore HV_X64_MSR_VP_ASSIST_PAGE after restoring nested state (and QEMU, for example, does exactly that).
To make sure eVMCS is mapped /vmx_set_nested_state() raises KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES request. Commit f2c7ef3ba955 (KVM: nSVM: cancel KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES on nested vmexit) added KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES clearing to nested_vmx_vmexit() to make sure MSR permission bitmap is not switched when an immediate exit from L2 to L1 happens right after migration (caused by a pending event, for example). Unfortunately, in the exact same situation we still need to have eVMCS mapped so nested_sync_vmcs12_to_shadow() reflects changes in VMCS12 to eVMCS. As a band-aid, restore nested_get_evmcs_page() when clearing KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES in nested_vmx_vmexit(). The 'fix' is far from being ideal as we can't easily propagate possible failures and even if we could, this is most likely already too late to do so. The whole 'KVM_REQ_GET_NESTED_STATE_PAGES' idea for mapping eVMCS after migration seems to be fragile as we diverge too much from the 'native' path when vmptr loading happens on vmx_set_nested_state(). (CVE-2021-46978)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 229765

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2021_46978.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/5/2025

Updated: 3/5/2025

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.9

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.2

Temporal Score: 5.3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-46978

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

Required KB Items: Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/20/2022

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-46978

Detections

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