CVE-2015-8551

The PCI backend driver in Xen, when running on an x86 system and using Linux 3.1.x through 4.3.x as the driver domain, allows local guest administrators to hit BUG conditions and cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and host OS crash) by leveraging a system with access to a passed-through MSI or MSI-X capable physical PCI device and a crafted sequence of XEN_PCI_OP_* operations, aka "Linux pciback missing sanity checks."

Published: 2016-04-13 Last update: 2026-05-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2015-8551 is rated Low Risk (36.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.45%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2015-8551

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.09% 0.45% +0.36%
2 2025-03-30 0.39% 0.09% -0.30%
3 2025-03-29 — 0.39% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2015-8551

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.5 4.0 [email protected]
4.7 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.4 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2015-8551

OS Trackers for CVE-2015-8551

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2015-8551 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2015-8551
gentoo normal CVE-2015-8551: 1 GLSA(s) (201604-03), 4 atom(s) (app-emulation/pvgrub, app-emulation/xen, app-emulation/xen-pvgrub, app-emulation/xen-tools); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2015-8551
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8551
suse medium CVE-2015-8551 severity moderate: SUSE including 130 source package names (kernel-bigsmp-3.0.101-0.47.79.1, kernel-bigsmp-base-3.0.101-0.47.79.1, …), 324 product×package rows across 41 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP4, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, … (41 product lines)): Fixed 245, Known Not Affected 79. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2015-8551/
ubuntu medium CVE-2015-8551 medium priority: Ubuntu including 99 source packages (linux, linux-armadaxp, …), 850 status rows across 14 suites (artful, bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, precise, trusty, upstream, vivid, wily, xenial, yakkety, zesty): DNE 566, not-affected 138, released 109, ignored 37. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2015-8551

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2015-8551

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 3.1, <= 3.1.10 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.3.0, <= 4.3.6 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse opensuse 13.1 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:opensuse:13.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_desktop 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:11:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_desktop 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_desktop:12:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_real_time_extension 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_real_time_extension:11:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_real_time_extension 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_real_time_extension:12:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:11:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:11:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_server 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_server:12:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 11 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:11:sp4:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_software_development_kit 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_software_development_kit:12:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
suse linux_enterprise_workstation_extension 12 cpe:2.3:o:suse:linux_enterprise_workstation_extension:12:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2015-8551

URL Tags
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-03/msg00094.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-04/msg00045.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-06/msg00059.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-07/msg00005.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00000.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00044.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2016-08/msg00055.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3434 Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/79546 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1034480 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/advisory-157.html Vendor Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201604-03 Third Party Advisory
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