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🛡️ CVE-2022-50720 — kernel

⚪ Unknown ✅ No Known Exploit NVD
N/A
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

x86/apic: Don't disable x2APIC if locked

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

Affected software

CVE-2022-50720 is recorded against 2 packages.

  • kernel (from 5.20.0 up to 6.0.3)
  • unknown

Timeline and source

Published on 24 December 2025 and last revised on 12 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from NVD.

References

git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
git.kernel.org (Web)
github.com (Advisory)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
git.kernel.org (Package)

Other advisories for this package

kernel has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:

CVE-2022-50720 on other distributions

Each distribution ships its own build and its own fixed version. Pick the one you run:

Details

Severity Unknown
CVSS Score N/A
CVSS Vector N/A
CWE N/A
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source NVD
Published 2025-12-24
Updated 2026-08-20
Modified 2026-08-12
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
kernel 5.20.0 6.0.3
unknown — —

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ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.

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