CVE-2023-5088
QEMU: improper IDE controller reset can lead to MBR overwrite
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · September 21, 2023
Updated · June 28, 2026
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.
Statement
Red Hat currently provides the nested virtualization feature as a Technology Preview. Nested virtualization is therefore unsupported for production use. For more information please refer to https://access.redhat.com/solutions/21101 and https://access.redhat.com/support/offerings/techpreview.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 6.4CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-821 · Incorrect Synchronization