Xen DomU crashes Dom0

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1

Situation

When Xen DomU is started, Dom0 crashes to BIOS. Error messages may or not be present.

Resolution

This issue has been linked to a patch (xen-3.0.4_13138-0.47); this patch requires that the NX or "Data Execution Protection" bit be set in the BIOS.

The NX or "Data Execution Protection" prevents regions of memory labeled by programs or the operating system as data from being executed. BIOS protection prevents buffer overflow attacks.

Several vendors ship hardware with this protection disabled.

To fix this problem, go into the physical machine's BIOS and enable NX or "Data Execution Protection".

Additional Information

Engineering reports that this will be fixed in a future patch.

Disclaimer

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