xen — security advisory
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.
- Products
- xen
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 4.19.6-r2, 4.20.4-r2, 4.21.2-r2
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-79611
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 1 Nov 2026, 02:32 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
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.
osv:ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611
xen
Fixed versions: 4.19.6-r2
xen
Fixed versions: 4.20.4-r2
xen
Fixed versions: 4.20.4-r2
xen
Fixed versions: 4.21.2-r2
Complete source record
{
"id": "95c5e21ee67863573c97742b3a3ea2ddbe62c0e0b7e0355160ac15469bb0cfd7",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611",
"summary": "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.",
"evidence": "osv:ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "xen",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "4.19.6-r2",
"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "xen",
"evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "4.20.4-r2",
"evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "xen",
"evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "4.20.4-r2",
"evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
"value": "xen",
"evidence": "/affected/3/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
{
"value": "4.21.2-r2",
"evidence": "/affected/3/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
}
],
"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
"id": "ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611",
"aliases": [
"ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.19.6-r2"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "xen",
"purl": "pkg:apk/alpine/xen?arch=source",
"ecosystem": "Alpine:v3.21"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/alpine/ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.20.4-r2"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "xen",
"purl": "pkg:apk/alpine/xen?arch=source",
"ecosystem": "Alpine:v3.22"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/alpine/ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.20.4-r2"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "xen",
"purl": "pkg:apk/alpine/xen?arch=source",
"ecosystem": "Alpine:v3.23"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/alpine/ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.21.2-r2"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "xen",
"purl": "pkg:apk/alpine/xen?arch=source",
"ecosystem": "Alpine:v3.24"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/alpine/ALPINE-CVE-2026-79611.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-23T18:30:03.151038925Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2026-79611"
],
"references": [
"https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-79611"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2026-79611",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 424585,
"published_at": "2026-10-13T16:17:23.347+00:00"
}