Every CVESearch/Get API key

CVE-2021-28710

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address...

8.8 HighFix available

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

0.29%Down 0.1 points since Nov 22, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

NVD Score used8.8

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Record
CVE-2021-28710
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0
6.9 MediumAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Weakness
CWE-269
Updated
2026-11-02
CVE ListNo score

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Record
CVE-2021-28710
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-15367No score

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Record
EUVD-2021-15367
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-ccqw-rpfw-2m258.8

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address...

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Record
GHSA-ccqw-rpfw-2m25
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-269
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2021-287108.8

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Record
ALPINE-CVE-2021-28710
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV8.8

certain VT-d IOMMUs may not work in shared page table mode For efficiency reasons, address translation control structures (page tables) may (and, on suitable hardware, by default will) be shared between CPUs, for second-level translation (EPT), and IOMMUs. These page tables are presently set up to always be 4 levels deep. However, an IOMMU may require the use of just 3 page table levels. In such a configuration the lop level table needs to be stripped before inserting the root table's address into the hardware pagetable base register. When sharing page tables, Xen erroneously skipped this stripping. Consequently, the guest is able to write to leaf page table entries.

Record
CVE-2021-28710
CVSS 3.1
8.8 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
xen
Alpine:v3.14
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.15
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.16
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.17
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.18
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.19
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.20
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.21
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.22
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.23
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1
xen
Alpine:v3.24
before 4.15.1-r1
4.15.1-r1

History

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

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

In short

CVE-2021-28710 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.8) in Xen, published November 21, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.29%, the 21st percentile. Fixed in xen 4.15.1-r1.

References

MoveEnter Open