Overview
About vulnerability
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
iommu/vt-d: Fix race condition during PASID entry replacement
The Intel VT-d PASID table entry is 512 bits (64 bytes). When replacing an active PASID entry (e.g., during domain replacement), the current implementation calculates a new entry on the stack and copies it to the table using a single structure assignment.
struct pasid_entry *pte, new_pte;
pte = intel_pasid_get_entry(dev, pasid); pasid_pte_config_first_level(iommu, &new_pte, …); *pte = new_pte;
Because the hardware may fetch the 512-bit PASID entry in multiple 128-bit chunks, updating the entire entry while it is active (Present bit set) risks a “torn” read. In this scenario, the IOMMU hardware could observe an inconsistent state — partially new data and partially old data — leading to unpredictable behavior or spurious faults.
Fix this by removing the unsafe “replace” helpers and following the “clear-then-update” flow, which ensures the Present bit is cleared and the required invalidation handshake is completed before the new configuration is applied.
Details
- Affected product:
- AlmaLinux 9.2 ESU , TuxCare 9.6 ESU
- Affected packages:
- kernel @ 5.14.0 (+1 more)