CVE-2022-50720 (GCVE-0-2022-50720)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2025-12-24 12:22 – Updated: 2026-01-02 15:04
VLAI?
Title
x86/apic: Don't disable x2APIC if locked
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: x86/apic: Don't disable x2APIC if locked The APIC supports two modes, legacy APIC (or xAPIC), and Extended APIC (or x2APIC). X2APIC mode is mostly compatible with legacy APIC, but it disables the memory-mapped APIC interface in favor of one that uses MSRs. The APIC mode is controlled by the EXT bit in the APIC MSR. The MMIO/xAPIC interface has some problems, most notably the APIC LEAK [1]. This bug allows an attacker to use the APIC MMIO interface to extract data from the SGX enclave. Introduce support for a new feature that will allow the BIOS to lock the APIC in x2APIC mode. If the APIC is locked in x2APIC mode and the kernel tries to disable the APIC or revert to legacy APIC mode a GP fault will occur. Introduce support for a new MSR (IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS) and handle the new locked mode when the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED bit is set by preventing the kernel from trying to disable the x2APIC. On platforms with the IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS MSR, if SGX or TDX are enabled the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED will be set by the BIOS. If legacy APIC is required, then it SGX and TDX need to be disabled in the BIOS. [1]: https://aepicleak.com/aepicleak.pdf
Severity ?
No CVSS data available.
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
Linux Linux Affected: fb209bd891645bb87b9618b724f0b4928e0df3de , < 05785ba834f23272f9d23427ae4a80ac505a5296 (git)
Affected: fb209bd891645bb87b9618b724f0b4928e0df3de , < dd1241e00addbf0b95f6cd6ce32152692820657e (git)
Affected: fb209bd891645bb87b9618b724f0b4928e0df3de , < b8d1d163604bd1e600b062fb00de5dc42baa355f (git)
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    Linux Linux Affected: 3.3
Unaffected: 0 , < 3.3 (semver)
Unaffected: 5.19.17 , ≤ 5.19.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.0.3 , ≤ 6.0.* (semver)
Unaffected: 6.1 , ≤ * (original_commit_for_fix)
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Linux",
          "programFiles": [
            "Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt",
            "arch/x86/Kconfig",
            "arch/x86/include/asm/cpu.h",
            "arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h",
            "arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
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              "versionType": "git"
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          "programFiles": [
            "Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt",
            "arch/x86/Kconfig",
            "arch/x86/include/asm/cpu.h",
            "arch/x86/include/asm/msr-index.h",
            "arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c"
          ],
          "repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git",
          "vendor": "Linux",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "3.3"
            },
            {
              "lessThan": "3.3",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "5.19.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "5.19.17",
              "versionType": "semver"
            },
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "6.0.*",
              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.0.3",
              "versionType": "semver"
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              "status": "unaffected",
              "version": "6.1",
              "versionType": "original_commit_for_fix"
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        }
      ],
      "cpeApplicability": [
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          "nodes": [
            {
              "cpeMatch": [
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "5.19.17",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "3.3",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.0.3",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "3.3",
                  "vulnerable": true
                },
                {
                  "criteria": "cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
                  "versionEndExcluding": "6.1",
                  "versionStartIncluding": "3.3",
                  "vulnerable": true
                }
              ],
              "negate": false,
              "operator": "OR"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nx86/apic: Don\u0027t disable x2APIC if locked\n\nThe APIC supports two modes, legacy APIC (or xAPIC), and Extended APIC\n(or x2APIC).  X2APIC mode is mostly compatible with legacy APIC, but\nit disables the memory-mapped APIC interface in favor of one that uses\nMSRs.  The APIC mode is controlled by the EXT bit in the APIC MSR.\n\nThe MMIO/xAPIC interface has some problems, most notably the APIC LEAK\n[1].  This bug allows an attacker to use the APIC MMIO interface to\nextract data from the SGX enclave.\n\nIntroduce support for a new feature that will allow the BIOS to lock\nthe APIC in x2APIC mode.  If the APIC is locked in x2APIC mode and the\nkernel tries to disable the APIC or revert to legacy APIC mode a GP\nfault will occur.\n\nIntroduce support for a new MSR (IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS) and handle\nthe new locked mode when the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED bit is set by\npreventing the kernel from trying to disable the x2APIC.\n\nOn platforms with the IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS MSR, if SGX or TDX are\nenabled the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED will be set by the BIOS.  If\nlegacy APIC is required, then it SGX and TDX need to be disabled in the\nBIOS.\n\n[1]: https://aepicleak.com/aepicleak.pdf"
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-01-02T15:04:06.985Z",
        "orgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
        "shortName": "Linux"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/05785ba834f23272f9d23427ae4a80ac505a5296"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd1241e00addbf0b95f6cd6ce32152692820657e"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8d1d163604bd1e600b062fb00de5dc42baa355f"
        }
      ],
      "title": "x86/apic: Don\u0027t disable x2APIC if locked",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "bippy-1.2.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67",
    "assignerShortName": "Linux",
    "cveId": "CVE-2022-50720",
    "datePublished": "2025-12-24T12:22:43.396Z",
    "dateReserved": "2025-12-24T12:20:40.329Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-01-02T15:04:06.985Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "nvd": "{\"cve\":{\"id\":\"CVE-2022-50720\",\"sourceIdentifier\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\",\"published\":\"2025-12-24T13:15:58.667\",\"lastModified\":\"2025-12-29T15:58:34.503\",\"vulnStatus\":\"Awaiting Analysis\",\"cveTags\":[],\"descriptions\":[{\"lang\":\"en\",\"value\":\"In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\\n\\nx86/apic: Don\u0027t disable x2APIC if locked\\n\\nThe APIC supports two modes, legacy APIC (or xAPIC), and Extended APIC\\n(or x2APIC).  X2APIC mode is mostly compatible with legacy APIC, but\\nit disables the memory-mapped APIC interface in favor of one that uses\\nMSRs.  The APIC mode is controlled by the EXT bit in the APIC MSR.\\n\\nThe MMIO/xAPIC interface has some problems, most notably the APIC LEAK\\n[1].  This bug allows an attacker to use the APIC MMIO interface to\\nextract data from the SGX enclave.\\n\\nIntroduce support for a new feature that will allow the BIOS to lock\\nthe APIC in x2APIC mode.  If the APIC is locked in x2APIC mode and the\\nkernel tries to disable the APIC or revert to legacy APIC mode a GP\\nfault will occur.\\n\\nIntroduce support for a new MSR (IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS) and handle\\nthe new locked mode when the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED bit is set by\\npreventing the kernel from trying to disable the x2APIC.\\n\\nOn platforms with the IA32_XAPIC_DISABLE_STATUS MSR, if SGX or TDX are\\nenabled the LEGACY_XAPIC_DISABLED will be set by the BIOS.  If\\nlegacy APIC is required, then it SGX and TDX need to be disabled in the\\nBIOS.\\n\\n[1]: https://aepicleak.com/aepicleak.pdf\"}],\"metrics\":{},\"references\":[{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/05785ba834f23272f9d23427ae4a80ac505a5296\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b8d1d163604bd1e600b062fb00de5dc42baa355f\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"},{\"url\":\"https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dd1241e00addbf0b95f6cd6ce32152692820657e\",\"source\":\"416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67\"}]}}"
  }
}


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  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



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