CVE-2020-29567
An issue was discovered in Xen 4.14.x. When moving IRQs between CPUs to distribute the load of IRQ handling, IRQ vectors are dynamically allocated and de-allocated on the relevant CPUs. De-allocation has to happen when certain constraints are met. If these conditions are not met when first checked, the checking CPU may send an interrupt to itself, in the expectation that this IRQ will be delivered only after the condition preventing the cleanup has cleared. For two specific IRQ vectors, this expectation was violated, resulting in a continuous stream of self-interrupts, which renders the CPU effectively unusable. A domain with a passed through PCI device can cause lockup of a physical CPU, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) to the entire host. Only x86 systems are vulnerable. Arm systems are not vulnerable. Only guests with physical PCI devices passed through to them can exploit the vulnerability.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| xen / xen | - | 4.14.0.x |
| fedoraproject / fedora | 33 | 33.x |
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OBLV6L6Q24PPQ2CRFXDX4Q76KU776GKI/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OBLV6L6Q24PPQ2CRFXDX4Q76KU776GKI/
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202107-30
- https://xenbits.xenproject.org/xsa/advisory-356.html
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Frequently Asked Questions
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.