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QemuApplication

CVE-2014-3461

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-11-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
hw/usb/bus.c in QEMU 1.6.2 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted savevm data, which triggers a heap-based buffer overflow, related to "USB post load checks."

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 · high confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow in hw/usb/bus.c in QEMU 1.6.2 when processing crafted savevm (save virtual machine) data. The overflow occurs during USB post-load checks and can allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by providing malicious serialized savevm data.

MitigationUpdate QEMU to a patched version. Avoid loading savevm data from untrusted or unknown sources, as the vulnerability is triggered during the deserialization of saved VM state containing USB device information.

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
QemuApplication
Affected:= 1.6.2

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed QEMU version
    Run 'qemu --version' or 'qemu-system-x86_64 --version' to determine the exact version of QEMU installed
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 1.6.2 (other versions may have separate vulnerabilities but this specific CVE affects only 1.6.2)
  2. Verify USB support is enabled
    Check if the QEMU build includes USB support by inspecting the binary with 'qemu-system-x86_64 -usb' or reviewing the build configuration for CONFIG_USB flag
    Affected if USB support is compiled into the QEMU binary, as the vulnerability exists in hw/usb/bus.c
  3. Identify savevm usage in the environment
    Check for presence of savevm state files (.sav, .save, or similar VM state snapshots) or look for scripts/logs that use 'savevm' or 'loadvm' QEMU monitor commands
    Affected if Any saved VM state files exist that could have been loaded, as the flaw triggers during deserialization of savevm data containing USB device information

You are affected if running QEMU version 1.6.2 with USB support enabled and there is any possibility of loading savevm data from untrusted sources.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update QEMU to a patched version. Avoid loading savevm data from untrusted or unknown sources, as the vulnerability is triggered during the deserialization of saved VM state containing USB device information.

Fix this in Qemu Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-3461 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data