CVE-2023-5088: Qemu: improper ide controller reset can lead to mbr overwrite

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2023-5088 is a high (CVSS 7.0) Incorrect Synchronization vulnerability in qemu. EPSS estimates a 0.26% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 17.1% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 03-11-2023
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 25-02-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A bug in QEMU could cause a guest I/O operation otherwise addressed to an arbitrary disk offset to be targeted to offset 0 instead (potentially overwriting the VM's boot code). This could be used, for example, by L2 guests with a virtual disk (vdiskL2) stored on a virtual disk of an L1 (vdiskL1) hypervisor to read and/or write data to LBA 0 of vdiskL1, potentially gaining control of L1 at its next reboot.

• CWE-821Incorrect SynchronizationThe product utilizes a shared resource in a concurrent manner, but it does not correctly synchronize access to the resource.
• CWE-662Improper SynchronizationThe product utilizes multiple threads, processes, components, or systems to allow temporary access to a shared resource that can only be exclusive to one process at a time, but it does not properly synchronize these actions, which might cause simultaneous accesses of this resource by multiple threads or processes.