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CVE-2025-40300

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5/10EPSS 0.33%

Last modified

CVE-2025-40300 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.5/10 on the CVSS scale. In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/vmscape: Add conditional IBPB mitigation VMSCAPE is a vulnerability that exploits insufficient branch predictor isolation between a guest and a userspace hypervisor (like QEMU). Existing mitigations already protect kernel/KVM from a malicious guest. EPSS estimates a 0.33% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/vmscape: Add conditional IBPB mitigation VMSCAPE is a vulnerability that exploits insufficient branch predictor isolation between a guest and a userspace hypervisor (like QEMU). Existing mitigations already protect kernel/KVM from a malicious guest. Userspace can additionally be protected by flushing the branch predictors after a VMexit. Since it is the userspace that consumes the poisoned branch predictors, conditionally issue an IBPB after a VMexit and before returning to userspace. Workloads that frequently switch between hypervisor and userspace will incur the most overhead from the new IBPB. This new IBPB is not integrated with the existing IBPB sites. For instance, a task can use the existing speculation control prctl() to get an IBPB at context switch time. With this implementation, the IBPB is doubled up: one at context switch and another before running userspace. The intent is to integrate and optimize these cases post-embargo. [ dhansen: elaborate on suboptimal IBPB solution ]

Metrics

CVSS 3.1
5.5/10

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS Probability
0.33%

24.9th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

VendorProductVersionsUpdate
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 3.16.57, < 3.17—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 4.4.168, < 4.5—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 4.16, < 5.10.244—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.11, < 5.15.193—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 5.16, < 6.1.152—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.2, < 6.6.106—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.7, < 6.12.47—
LinuxLinux Kernel>= 6.13, < 6.16.7—
LinuxLinux Kernel6.17Rc1
DebianDebian Linux11.0—

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Modified

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-40300?
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/vmscape: Add conditional IBPB mitigation VMSCAPE is a vulnerability that exploits insufficient branch predictor isolation between a guest and a userspace hypervisor (like QEMU). Existing mitigations already protect kernel/KVM from a malicious guest. Userspace can additionally be protected by flushing the branch predictors after a VMexit. Since it is the userspace that consumes the poisoned branch predictors, conditionally issue an IBPB after a VMexit and before returning to userspace. Workloads that frequently switch between hypervisor and userspace will incur the most overhead from the new IBPB. This new IBPB is not integrated with the existing IBPB sites. For instance, a task can use the existing speculation control prctl() to get an IBPB at context switch time. With this implementation, the IBPB is doubled up: one at context switch and another before running userspace. The intent is to integrate and optimize these cases post-embargo. [ dhansen: elaborate on suboptimal IBPB solution ]
How severe is CVE-2025-40300?
CVE-2025-40300 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.33% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2025-40300?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST