Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47105

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.12 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Public exploit Zero-click Patch available

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
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: xsk: return xsk buffers back to pool when cleaning the ring Currently we only NULL the xdp_buff pointer in the internal SW ring but we never give it back to the xsk buffer pool. This means that buffers can be leaked out of the buff pool and never be used again. Add missing xsk_buff_free() call to the routine that is supposed to clean the entries that are left in the ring so that these buffers in the umem can be used by other sockets. Also, only go through the space that is actually left to be cleaned instead of a whole ring.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-401

Allocated memory is never released on some path, so a long-running service or a repeatedly triggered request steadily consumes memory until performance degrades or the process crashes. Attackers exploit it by simply driving the leaking path. Remediation is pairing every allocation with a release and using ownership patterns or tooling to catch what leaks.

General guidance for the memory leak class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
Linux KernelOperating system
Affected:>= 5.5, < 5.15.12= 5.16

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.15.12 or later
Fixed in 5.15.12
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.15.12 or later (5.15.x branch), or 5.17 or later

  1. Check current kernel version with `uname -r`
  2. Identify the appropriate fixed kernel release for your distribution (5.15.12 or later for 5.15.x branch, or 5.17 or later for newer branches)
  3. Schedule a maintenance window for the kernel upgrade
  4. Update the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade` for Debian/Ubuntu, `yum update` for RHEL/CentOS, or `dnf upgrade` for Fedora)
  5. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the ice driver loads without the memory leak
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require driver recompilation or system reboot; ensure compatibility with existing system configuration and installed modules

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-47105 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-47105 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
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