Xen XAPI Configuration VM.platform:hvm_serial access control

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in Xen XAPI. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Configuration Handler. Performing a manipulation of the argument VM.platform:hvm_serial results in access control. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-42486. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in Xen XAPI (the affected version is unknown). This affects an unknown code of the component Configuration Handler. The manipulation of the argument VM.platform:hvm_serial with an unknown input leads to a access control vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-284. The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

[This CNA information record relates to multiple CVEs; the text explains which aspects/vulnerabilities correspond to which CVE.] XAPI can configure different users with different roles, using Role Based Access Control. For more details, see: https://docs.xenserver.com/en-us/xencenter/current-release/rbac-overview.html#rbac-roles The pool-admin role is fully privileged. Notably, users with this role can also SSH into the host as root. The other administrator roles are pool-operator, vm-power-admin and vm-admin, each of which are authorised to configure and manage various aspects of the system. Some settings are inadequately restricted, and can be set by a lower privilege of administrator than expected. * CVE-2026-23559: A vm-admin can set VBD.other_config:backend-local and turn arbitrary files in dom0 into VDIs (virtual disks) and give said disks to a VM they control. This is an arbitrary read and/or modify of files in dom0. * CVE-2026-23560: A vm-admin can set VM.other-config:is_system_domain and mark a VM as a system domain. System domains are ignored and left running during certain other host/pool operations, and may be hidden from view in tooling. * CVE-2026-23561: A vm-admin can set VM.other_config:storage_driver_domain and mark a VM as the storage domain for a particular host storage connection (PBD). Shutting down the VM can cause the PBD to be erroneously marked as unplugged when it is not. * CVE-2026-23562: Configuration of PCI passthrough is normally restricted to the pool-admin role. However one API was missing this check, allowing a vm-admin access to unintended host hardware. * CVE-2026-42486: A vm-admin can set the VM.platform:hvm_serial parameter, which should be restricted to the pool-admin role, as it can allow arbitrary dom0 file write.

It is possible to read the advisory at xenbits.xen.org. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-42486 since 04/27/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. The exploitation requires an enhanced level of successful authentication. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/10/2026). The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1068 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• Virtualization Software

Vendor

• Xen

Name

• XAPI

License

• open-source

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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