LibvirtApplication · Redhat
CVE-2014-3672
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 · uneditedThe qemu implementation in libvirt before 1.3.0 and Xen allows local guest OS users to cause a denial of service (host disk consumption) by writing to stdout or stderr.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability in the QEMU implementation within libvirt before version 1.3.0 and Xen allows local guest OS users to consume excessive host disk space by writing unlimited data to stdout or stderr. The QEMU process running on the host does not properly restrict or throttle output from the guest, potentially allowing a malicious guest user to fill the host's filesystem.
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
LibvirtApplication
<= 1.2.21all versionsCVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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 libvirt versionRun 'rpm -q libvirt' or 'libvirtd --version' to determine the installed libvirt package versionAffected if The version is 1.2.21 or earlier (any version before 1.3.0)
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Identify the hypervisor in useCheck the hypervisor type by running 'virsh sysinfo' or inspecting /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf for the 'driver' or 'hypervisor' typeAffected if The environment uses QEMU/KVM with libvirt (before 1.3.0) or Xen as the hypervisor
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Check for QEMU process output throttlingInspect the QEMU command line or configuration for arguments related to output handling, such as serial console or parallel port configurations that could allow unlimited guest-to-host outputAffected if QEMU is configured with serial or parallel devices redirected to host files or pipes without size limits
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Verify disk space consumption from hostMonitor host disk usage with 'df -h' and check for unusually rapid consumption that correlates with specific guest activityAffected if Host filesystem space is being consumed rapidly without explanation, potentially from guest stdout/stderr output
You are affected if you run libvirt versions 1.2.21 or earlier with QEMU, or any version of Xen, and guests have access to serial/parallel console output that could be redirected to host files without limits.
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 dataUpgrade libvirt to version 1.3.0 or later, or apply vendor-provided patches for Xen. Implement disk usage monitoring and process resource limits as a compensating control until the update can be applied.
Fix this in Libvirt
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-3672 — 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-2014-3672 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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