CVE-2026-79611
VMX: VMentry failure with branch tracing and blocked states
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest.
Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
5.5
VMX: VMentry failure with branch tracing and blocked states
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest.
Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
CVE-2026-79611- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-843
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-98828
5.5
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest.
Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
EUVD-2026-98828- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-28w8-qvww-f539
5.5
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of...
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest.
Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
GHSA-28w8-qvww-f539- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-843
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
5.5
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest.
Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
CVE-2026-79611- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-843
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVALPINE-CVE-2026-79611
5.5
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest.
Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-79611
5.5
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest. Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-79611- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-04
Show 6 moreShow less
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-79611
5.5
For XSA-308 logic was introduced, as VMX VMEntry checks do not like the exact combination of state which occurs when #DB in intercepted, Single Stepping is active, and blocked by STI/MovSS is active, despite this being a legitimate state to be in. The resulting VMEntry failure is fatal to the guest. Sadly there is another special sub-case of the above, with branch tracing enabled. In that case the prior adjustment would still cause a VMentry failure, as before fatal to the guest.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-79611- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2026:12138-1 No score
xen-4.22.0_06-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the xen-4.22.0_06-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2026:12138-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2026:4641-1 No score
Security update for xen
This update for xen fixes the following issues:
Security issues fixed:
- CVE-2026-79609: x86: XPTI may break on huge-memory systems (bsc#1283321).
- CVE-2026-79610: grant-table: double version change race (bsc#1283322).
- CVE-2026-79611: VMX: VMentry failure with branch tracing and blocked states (bsc#1283323).
- CVE-2026-102700: gnttab: cache-flush handling may cause page reference leak (bsc#1283325).
Non security issue fixed:
- Xen: Missing upstream bug fixes (bsc#1027519).
- Record
SUSE-SU-2026:4641-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2026:4642-1 No score
Security update for xen
This update for xen fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2026-79609: x86: XPTI may break on huge-memory systems (bsc#1283321).
- CVE-2026-79610: grant-table: double version change race (bsc#1283322).
- CVE-2026-79611: VMX: VMentry failure with branch tracing and blocked states (bsc#1283323).
- CVE-2026-102700: gnttab: cache-flush handling may cause page reference leak (bsc#1283325).
- Record
SUSE-SU-2026:4642-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2026:4732-1 No score
Security update for xen
This update for xen fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2026-79609: x86: XPTI may break on huge-memory systems (bsc#1283321).
- CVE-2026-79610: grant-table: double version change race (bsc#1283322).
- CVE-2026-79611: VMX: VMentry failure with branch tracing and blocked states (bsc#1283323).
- CVE-2026-102700: gnttab: cache-flush handling may cause page reference leak (bsc#1283325).
- Record
SUSE-SU-2026:4732-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVSUSE-SU-2026:4942-1 No score
Security update for xen
This update for xen fixes the following issues:
- CVE-2026-79608: x86/AMD: ineffectual Zenbleed workaround (bsc#1283317).
- CVE-2026-79609: x86: XPTI may break on huge-memory systems (bsc#1283321).
- CVE-2026-79610: grant-table: double version change race (bsc#1283322).
- CVE-2026-79611: VMX: VMentry failure with branch tracing and blocked states (bsc#1283323).
- CVE-2026-102700: gnttab: cache-flush handling may cause page reference leak (bsc#1283325).
- Record
SUSE-SU-2026:4942-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenAlpine:v3.21 |
before 4.19.6-r2 | 4.19.6-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.22 |
before 4.20.4-r2 | 4.20.4-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.23 |
before 4.20.4-r2 | 4.20.4-r2 |
xenAlpine:v3.24 |
before 4.21.2-r2 | 4.21.2-r2 |
xenDebian:12 |
before 4.17.7+13-g2445b30a44-0+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 Show 10 moreShow less4.17.3+10-g091466ba55-14.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1.14.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1.1~exp14.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1.1~exp24.17.3+10-g091466ba55-1~deb12u14.17.3+36-g54dacb5c02-14.17.5+23-ga4e5191dc0-14.17.5+23-ga4e5191dc0-1+deb12u14.17.5+72-g01140da4e8-14.17.7-0+deb12u1 |
4.17.7+13-g2445b30a44-0+deb12u1 |
xenDebian:13 |
before 4.20.4+39-gf1e1321c87-0+deb13u1, plus listed versions 4.20.0+68-g35cb38b222-14.20.2+37-g61ff35323e-0+deb13u14.20.2+37-g61ff35323e-14.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-0+deb13u14.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-14.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-24.20.3+127-gc42374a105-0+deb13u14.20.3+127-gc42374a105-1 |
4.20.4+39-gf1e1321c87-0+deb13u1 |
xenDebian:14 |
before 4.20.4+39-gf1e1321c87-1, plus listed versions 4.20.0+68-g35cb38b222-14.20.2+37-g61ff35323e-14.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-14.20.2+7-g1badcf5035-24.20.3+127-gc42374a105-1 |
4.20.4+39-gf1e1321c87-1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 |
before 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 | 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS |
before 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 | 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS |
before 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 | 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 |
Show 20 moreShow less
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5-LTSS |
before 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 | 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP5 |
before 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 | 4.17.7_02-150500.3.82.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 |
before 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 | 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 |
before 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 | 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS |
before 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 | 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS |
before 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 | 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4-LTSS |
before 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 | 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP4 |
before 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 | 4.16.7_16-150400.4.95.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS |
before 4.12.4_76-3.154.1 | 4.12.4_76-3.154.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 |
before 4.12.4_76-3.154.1 | 4.12.4_76-3.154.1 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 |
before 4.20.4_06-150700.3.49.2 | 4.20.4_06-150700.3.49.2 |
xenSUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP7 |
before 4.20.4_06-150700.3.49.2 | 4.20.4_06-150700.3.49.2 |
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: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 |
xenopenSUSE:Tumbleweed |
before 4.22.0_06-1.1 | 4.22.0_06-1.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected, facts | OSV | |
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-79611 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.5) in Xen, published October 13, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.16%, the 5th percentile. Fixed in xen 4.19.6-r2.
References
xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-518.html
xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-518.html
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/10/13/7
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-79611
github.com/advisories/GHSA-28w8-qvww-f539
security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-79611
Show 19 moreShow less
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-79611
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2026/suse-su-20264641-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1027519
bugzilla.suse.com/1283321
bugzilla.suse.com/1283322
bugzilla.suse.com/1283323
bugzilla.suse.com/1283325
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-102700
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-79609
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-79610
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-79611
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2026/suse-su-20264642-1
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2026/suse-su-20264732-1
suse.com/support/update/announcement/2026/suse-su-20264942-1
bugzilla.suse.com/1283317
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-79608
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-79611
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-79611
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-79607