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Xen / TSX Async Abort protections not restored after S3 (XSA-377)

medium Nessus Plugin ID 154826

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Synopsis

The remote Xen hypervisor installation is missing a security update.

Description

According to its self-reported version number, the Xen hypervisor installed on the remote host is affected by a vulnerability as x86: TSX Async Abort protections not restored after S3. This issue relates to the TSX Async Abort speculative security vulnerability. Please see https://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-305.html for details. Mitigating TAA by disabling TSX (the default and preferred option) requires selecting a non-default setting in MSR_TSX_CTRL. This setting isn't restored after S3 suspend.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Apply the appropriate patch according to the vendor advisory.

See Also

https://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-377.html

Plugin Details

Severity: Medium

ID: 154826

File Name: xen_server_XSA-377.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Family: Misc.

Published: 11/2/2021

Updated: 12/2/2021

Configuration: Enable paranoid mode

Supported Sensors: Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Low

Score: 3.6

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 4

Temporal Score: 3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-28690

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.5

Temporal Score: 5.7

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:xen:xen

Required KB Items: installed_sw/Xen Hypervisor, Settings/ParanoidReport

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 6/8/2021

Vulnerability Publication Date: 6/8/2021

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-28690

IAVB: 2021-B-0060-S