CVE-2022-21166

Incomplete cleanup in specific special register write operations for some Intel(R) Processors may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable information disclosure via local access.

Published: 2022-06-15 Last update: 2025-05-05 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2022-21166 is rated Low Risk (34.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). 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-2022-21166

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 2026-03-04 0.07% 0.15% +0.08%
2 2026-03-01 0.15% 0.07% -0.08%
3 2026-02-04 — 0.15% —

Full EPSS history (37 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-21166

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-21166

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-21166

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2022-21166: 1 source package rows (xen); 463 state rows across 8 repos (3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 231, open 232. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2022-21166
debian not yet assigned CVE-2022-21166 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 3 source packages (intel-microcode, linux, xen), 15 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 15. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-21166
gentoo high CVE-2022-21166: 1 GLSA(s) (202208-23), 2 atom(s) (app-emulation/xen, app-emulation/xen-tools); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-21166
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-21166
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-21166/
ubuntu medium CVE-2022-21166 medium priority: Ubuntu including 168 source packages (intel-microcode, linux, …), 2056 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1576, released 232, not-affected 189, ignored 58, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-21166

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-21166

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
xen xen — cpe:2.3:o:xen:xen:*:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
fedoraproject fedora 35 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 36 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
intel sgx_dcap < 1.14.100.3 cpe:2.3:a:intel:sgx_dcap:*:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
intel sgx_dcap < 1.14.100.3 cpe:2.3:a:intel:sgx_dcap:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
intel sgx_psw < 2.16.100.3 cpe:2.3:a:intel:sgx_psw:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
intel sgx_psw < 2.17.100.3 cpe:2.3:a:intel:sgx_psw:*:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
intel sgx_sdk < 2.16.100.3 cpe:2.3:a:intel:sgx_sdk:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
intel sgx_sdk < 2.17.100.3 cpe:2.3:a:intel:sgx_sdk:*:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:beta:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1b:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_1d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2a:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_2d:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3c:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware esxi 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:vmware:esxi:7.0:update_3d:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2022-21166

URL Tags
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/06/16/1 Mailing List Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/07/msg00000.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/FHTEW3RXU2GW6S3RCPQG4VNCZGI3TOSV/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MCVOMHBQRH4KP7IN6U24CW7F2D2L5KBS/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RKRXZ4LHGCGMOG24ZCEJNY6R2BTS4S2Q/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/T4P2KJYL74KGLHE4JZETVW7PZH6ZIABA/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202208-23 Third Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220624-0008/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5173 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5178 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5184 Third Party Advisory
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00615.html Patch Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence