Kernel: KVM: nVMX: use-after-free of the hrtimer for emulation of the preemption timer
Published Mar 17, 2019
7.8
HIGHCVSS 3.0
EPSS 0.80%
Description
The KVM implementation in the Linux kernel through 4.20.5 has a Use-after-Free.
Affected products
No data.
Configuration 1
- ≤ 4.20.5
Configuration 3
- 28
- 29
Configuration 4
- 8.0
Configuration 5
- 14.04
- 16.04
- 18.04
- 18.10
Configuration 6
- n/a
- n/a
Configuration 7
- 3.11
- 7.0
- 7.0
- 7.0
- 7.6
- 7.6
- 7.6
- 7.0
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel-0:3.10.0-957.12.1.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:0818
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel-rt-0:3.10.0-957.12.1.rt56.927.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:0833
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Advanced Update Support
kernel-0:3.10.0-693.61.1.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:4058
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Telco Extended Update Support
kernel-0:3.10.0-693.61.1.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:4058
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions
kernel-0:3.10.0-693.61.1.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:4058
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 Extended Update Support
kernel-0:3.10.0-862.44.2.el7
Fixed · RHSA-2019:3967
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
kernel-alt
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
kernel
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
kernel-rt
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2
kernel-rt
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-0:3.10.0-957.12.1.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:0818 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-rt-0:3.10.0-957.12.1.rt56.927.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:0833 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Advanced Update Support | kernel-0:3.10.0-693.61.1.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:4058 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Telco Extended Update Support | kernel-0:3.10.0-693.61.1.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:4058 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.4 Update Services for SAP Solutions | kernel-0:3.10.0-693.61.1.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:4058 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.5 Extended Update Support | kernel-0:3.10.0-862.44.2.el7 | Fixed | RHSA-2019:3967 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | kernel-alt | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | kernel | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | kernel-rt | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2 | kernel-rt | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
This issue does not affect the version of the kernel package as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6 and Red Hat Enterprise MRG 2. This issue affects the versions of Linux kernel as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Future kernel updates for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 may address this issue. Note: Impact on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 kernel is limited, as it requires that nested virtualization feature is enabled on a system. Nested Virtualization feature is available only as - Technology Preview.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
1 other source (Red Hat) ▾
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
Score over time
2021–2026- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v1
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (14 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | 0.80% (0.00805) | 55.21th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.80% (0.00805) | 51.78th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.06% (0.00064) | 17.15th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.13% (0.00127) | 49.01th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 10, 2024 | 0.13% (0.00127) | 46.43th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.09% (0.00089) | 36.40th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 74.98th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 23, 2023 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 74.94th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 1.55% (0.01547) | 72.92th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 5.84% (0.05839) | 77.39th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 3, 2022 | 19.26% (0.19261) | 94.09th | v1 |
| Jan 6, 2022 | 19.26% (0.19261) | 94.03th | v1 |
| Sep 1, 2021 | 5.05% (0.05048) | 88.14th | v1 |
| Apr 14, 2021 | 5.05% (0.05048) | 0.00th | v1 |
References (28)
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-02/msg00042.html vendor-advisoryx_refsource_SUSEMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/151713/KVM-VMX-Preemption-Timer-Use-After-Free.html x_refsource_MISCThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/02/18/2 x_refsource_MISCMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2019:0959 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0818 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:0833 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHATThird Party Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3967 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:4058 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-7221 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1760 x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitPatchThird Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1671904 Issue Tracking
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=ecec76885bcfe3294685dc363fd1273df0d5d65f x_refsource_CONFIRMMailing ListPatchVendor Advisory
- https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commits/master/arch/x86/kvm x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/03/msg00034.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/04/msg00004.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/05/msg00002.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/KDOXCX3QFVWYXH5CQMGDDE7H6MUG5XGG/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/Y2HMABEMJDPA6LPCBE5WIEZXUKY7DLTN/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-7221
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190404-0002/ x_refsource_CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K08413011 x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3930-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3930-2/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3931-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3931-2/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3932-1/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/3932-2/ vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUThird Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-7221
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.