CVE-2021-28710
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.
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
What each source reports
NVD Score used 8.8
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 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.9 Medium
AV: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-2m25 8.8
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 High
CVSS: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-2021-28710 8.8
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 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV 8.8
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 High
CVSS: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
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenAlpine:v3.14 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.15 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.16 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.17 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.18 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.19 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.20 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.21 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.22 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.23 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
xenAlpine:v3.24 | before 4.15.1-r1 | 4.15.1-r1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE 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
xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-390.txt
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/I7ZGWVVRI4XY2XSTBI3XEMWBXPDVX6OT
security.gentoo.org/glsa/202208-23
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-28710
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/I7ZGWVVRI4XY2XSTBI3XEMWBXPDVX6OT
github.com/advisories/GHSA-ccqw-rpfw-2m25
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-28710