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CVE-2020-29482

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute...

6.0 MediumFix available

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
High
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.39%Down 0.7 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used 6.0

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2020-29482
CVSS 3.1
6.0 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
4.9 MediumAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
Weakness
CWE-426
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE List No score

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2020-29482
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-21850 No score

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
EUVD-2020-21850
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-8458-3j4r-x5w4 6.0

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute...

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
GHSA-8458-3j4r-x5w4
CVSS 3.1
6.0 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-426
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2020-29482 6.0

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
ALPINE-CVE-2020-29482
CVSS 3.1
6.0 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 6.0

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
CVE-2020-29482
CVSS 3.1
6.0 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2020-29482 6.0

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2020-29482
CVSS 3.1
6.0 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2020-29482 6.0

An issue was discovered in Xen through 4.14.x. A guest may access xenstore paths via absolute paths containing a full pathname, or via a relative path, which implicitly includes /local/domain/$DOMID for their own domain id. Management tools must access paths in guests' namespaces, necessarily using absolute paths. oxenstored imposes a pathname limit that is applied solely to the relative or absolute path specified by the client. Therefore, a guest can create paths in its own namespace which are too long for management tools to access. Depending on the toolstack in use, a malicious guest administrator might cause some management tools and debugging operations to fail. For example, a guest administrator can cause "xenstore-ls -r" to fail. However, a guest administrator cannot prevent the host administrator from tearing down the domain. All systems using oxenstored are vulnerable. Building and using oxenstored is the default in the upstream Xen distribution, if the Ocaml compiler is available. Systems using C xenstored are not vulnerable.

Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2020-29482
CVSS 3.1
6.0 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
xen
Alpine:v3.11
before 4.13.2-r3
4.13.2-r3
xen
Alpine:v3.12
before 4.13.2-r3
4.13.2-r3
xen
Alpine:v3.13
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.14
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.15
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.16
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.17
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.18
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.19
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.20
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
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Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
xen
Alpine:v3.21
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.22
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.23
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Alpine:v3.24
before 4.14.1-r0
4.14.1-r0
xen
Debian:12
before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
xen
Debian:13
before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
xen
Debian:14
before 4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
4.14.0+88-g1d1d1f5391-1
xen
Debian:10
From an advisory covering 11 CVEs
before 4.11.4+57-g41a822c392-2, plus listed versions
4.11.1+92-g6c33308a8d-24.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-14.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1~deb10u14.11.4+24-gddaaccbbab-14.11.4+24-gddaaccbbab-1~deb10u14.11.4+37-g3263f257ca-14.11.4+57-g41a822c392-14.11.4-1
4.11.4+57-g41a822c392-2
xen
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
4.5.1-0ubuntu14.5.1-0ubuntu24.6.0-1ubuntu14.6.0-1ubuntu24.6.0-1ubuntu4
Show 7 moreShow less
4.6.0-1ubuntu4.14.6.0-1ubuntu4.24.6.0-1ubuntu4.34.6.5-0ubuntu14.6.5-0ubuntu1.14.6.5-0ubuntu1.24.6.5-0ubuntu1.4
None known
xen
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
4.9.0-0ubuntu34.9.0-0ubuntu44.9.2-0ubuntu1
None known
xen
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS
All versions, plus listed versions
4.9.2-0ubuntu24.9.2-0ubuntu64.9.2-0ubuntu74.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu14.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu24.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu2.24.11.3+24-g14b62ab3e5-1ubuntu2.3
None known

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2020-29482 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.0) in Xen, published December 15, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.39%, the 33rd percentile. Fixed in xen 4.13.2-r3.

References

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