CVE-2023-46837
arm32: The cache may not be properly cleaned/invalidated (take two)
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
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
- Low
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
CVE-2023-46837- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-119
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List
3.3
arm32: The cache may not be properly cleaned/invalidated (take two)
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
CVE-2023-46837- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-119
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-51003
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
EUVD-2023-51003- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-v75r-qqcp-59c7
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for...
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
GHSA-v75r-qqcp-59c7- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-119
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2023-46837
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2023-46837- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest.
Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory.
This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
CVE-2023-46837- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-46837
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest. Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory. This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-46837- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-46837
3.3
Arm provides multiple helpers to clean & invalidate the cache for a given region. This is, for instance, used when allocating guest memory to ensure any writes (such as the ones during scrubbing) have reached memory before handing over the page to a guest. Unfortunately, the arithmetics in the helpers can overflow and would then result to skip the cache cleaning/invalidation. Therefore there is no guarantee when all the writes will reach the memory. This undefined behavior was meant to be addressed by XSA-437, but the approach was not sufficient.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-46837- CVSS 3.1
- 3.3 Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenAlpine:v3.16 |
before 4.16.5-r5 | 4.16.5-r5 |
xenAlpine:v3.17 |
before 4.16.5-r5 | 4.16.5-r5 |
xenAlpine:v3.18 |
before 4.17.2-r5 | 4.17.2-r5 |
xenAlpine:v3.19 |
before 4.18.0-r2 | 4.18.0-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.20 |
before 4.18.0-r2 | 4.18.0-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.21 |
before 4.18.0-r2 | 4.18.0-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.22 |
before 4.18.0-r2 | 4.18.0-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.23 |
before 4.18.0-r2 | 4.18.0-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.24 |
before 4.18.0-r2 | 4.18.0-r2 |
xenDebian:12 |
before 4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1~deb12u1, plus listed versions 4.17.1+2-gb773c48e36-14.17.2+55-g0b56bed864-14.17.2+76-ge1f9cb16e2-14.17.2+76-ge1f9cb16e2-1~deb12u14.17.2-1 |
4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1~deb12u1 |
Show 10 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenDebian:13 |
before 4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1 | 4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1 |
xenDebian:14 |
before 4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1 | 4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1 |
xenUbuntu: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 less4.6.0-1ubuntu4.14.6.0-1ubuntu4.24.6.0-1ubuntu4.34.6.5-0ubuntu14.6.5-0ubuntu1.14.6.5-0ubuntu1.24.6.5-0ubuntu1.4 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.9.0-0ubuntu34.9.0-0ubuntu44.9.2-0ubuntu1 |
None known |
xenUbuntu: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 |
xenUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.11.4+24-gddaaccbbab-1ubuntu24.16.0-1~ubuntu24.16.0-1~ubuntu2.1 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.17.2-14.17.2+55-g0b56bed864-14.17.2+76-ge1f9cb16e2-14.17.2+76-ge1f9cb16e2-1ubuntu14.17.3+10-g091466ba55-14.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1.1ubuntu24.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1.1ubuntu3 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.20.0-1ubuntu14.20.0+68-g35cb38b222-1 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-2build24.20.2+37-g61ff35323e-1ubuntu14.20.3+127-gc42374a105-1 |
None known |
xenUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.20.0+68-g35cb38b222-14.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-24.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-2build2 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-46837 is a low vulnerability (CVSS 3.3) in Xen, published January 5, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.24%, the 15th percentile. Fixed in xen 4.16.5-r5.
References
xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-447.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/XLL6SQ6IKFYXLYWITYZCRV5IBRK5G35R
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/JFVKWYQFRUU3CAS53THTUKXEOUDWI42G
xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-447.html
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46837
github.com/advisories/GHSA-v75r-qqcp-59c7