What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities
CVE-2018-10901
- Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
- Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
- EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
- Public exploit or detection template: none known
- Published: 2018-07-26 · updated 2026-06-17
- Weakness: CWE-665
Description
A flaw was found in Linux kernel's KVM virtualization subsystem. The VMX code does not restore the GDT.LIMIT to the previous host value, but instead sets it to 64KB. With a corrupted GDT limit a host's userspace code has an ability to place malicious entries in the GDT, particularly to the per-cpu variables. An attacker can use this to escalate their privileges.
Affected products
- Linux kernel: before 2.6.36 — fixed in 2.6.36
- RedHat Enterprise Linux Desktop: 6.0
- RedHat Enterprise Linux Server: 6.0
- RedHat Enterprise Linux Server Aus: 6.4, 6.5, 6.6
- RedHat Enterprise Linux Workstation: 6.0
How to fix
Upgrade to a fixed version: Linux kernel 2.6.36. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.
References
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104905
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2390
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2391
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2392
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2393
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:2394
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2018-10901
- https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=3444d7da1839b851eefedd372978d8a982316c36
- https://help.ecostruxureit.com/display/public/UADCE725/Security+fixes+in+StruxureWare+Data+Center+Expert+v7.6.0
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2020.html
- https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/security-advisory/cpuapr2019-5072813.html
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104905
Get alerted when CVE-2018-10901 or the next vulnerability affects your stack