USN-8172-1: kvmtool vulnerabilities

Publication date

13 April 2026

Overview

Several security issues were fixed in kvmtool.


Packages

Details

It was discovered that kvmtool did not properly manage memory under certain
circumstances. A malicious guest attacker could use this issue to cause
kvmtool to crash, leading to a denial of service, or possibly execute
arbitrary code on the host system. (CVE-2021-45464)

It was discovered that kvmtool incorrectly handled the 9p passthrough file
system. A malicious guest attacker could possibly use this issue to open
special files, escape the exported 9p tree, and execute arbitrary code on
the host system. (CVE-2023-2861)

It was discovered that kvmtool did not properly manage memory under certain
circumstances. A malicious guest attacker could use this issue to cause
kvmtool to crash, leading to a denial of service, or possibly execute
arbitrary code on the host system. (CVE-2021-45464)

It was discovered that kvmtool incorrectly handled the 9p passthrough file
system. A malicious guest attacker could possibly use this issue to open
special files, escape the exported 9p tree, and execute arbitrary code on
the host system. (CVE-2023-2861)

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
22.04 LTS jammy kvmtool –  0.20170904-1.1ubuntu0.1~esm2  
20.04 LTS focal kvmtool –  0.20170904-1ubuntu0.20.04.1~esm1  
18.04 LTS bionic kvmtool –  0.20170904-1ubuntu0.18.04.1~esm1  
16.04 LTS xenial kvmtool –  0.20151104-1ubuntu0.1~esm1  

Reduce your security exposure

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