XenserverApplication · Citrix
CVE-2012-4606
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedCitrix XenServer 4.1, 6.0, 5.6 SP2, 5.6 Feature Pack 1, 5.6 Common Criteria, 5.6, 5.5, 5.0, and 5.0 Update 3 contains a Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability which could allow local users with access to a guest operating system to gain elevated privileges.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Citrix XenServer hypervisor (versions 4.1, 5.0-5.6, and 6.0) allowing authenticated users with guest VM access to escalate privileges to the host system level.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
XenserverApplication
= 4.1= 5.0= 5.5= 5.6= 6.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed XenServer versionRun 'xe host-list' or check /etc/redhat-release on the XenServer host to obtain the exact version numberAffected if The version listed is 4.1, 5.0, 5.5, 5.6, or 6.0 exactly as specified in the affected versions
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Confirm guest VM functionality is enabledRun 'xe vm-list' to list guest VMs or check that the hypervisor is configured to run guest virtual machinesAffected if Guest VMs are present and operational on the XenServer host, as the vulnerability requires guest VM access
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Verify local user access to guest VMsCheck for local user accounts or review access controls for guest VMs using 'xe user-list' or by examining authentication configuration for VM console accessAffected if Non-administrative local users have authenticated access to guest VMs, which is the attack vector for privilege escalation
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Check for unusual VM-to-host interactionsReview XenServer logs in /var/log/xen/ for any unexpected commands or API calls originating from guest VMs attempting to interact with the hostAffected if Guest VMs are successfully executing commands or API calls on the host system, indicating potential exploitation
A system is affected if it runs Citrix XenServer version 4.1, 5.0, 5.5, 5.6, or 6.0 and permits authenticated local user access to guest virtual machines.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply Citrix security patches or upgrade to a supported XenServer version; ensure guest VM access is restricted to trusted users as this vulnerability requires local guest access.
Fix this in Xenserver
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-4606 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2012-4606 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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