Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47172
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 · uneditedIn the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iio: adc: ad7124: Fix potential overflow due to non sequential channel numbers Channel numbering must start at 0 and then not have any holes, or it is possible to overflow the available storage. Note this bug was introduced as part of a fix to ensure we didn't rely on the ordering of child nodes. So we need to support arbitrary ordering but they all need to be there somewhere. Note I hit this when using qemu to test the rest of this series. Arguably this isn't the best fix, but it is probably the most minimal option for backporting etc. Alexandru's sign-off is here because he carried this patch in a larger set that Jonathan then applied.
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 analysisA fixed-size buffer is filled without checking the length of the incoming data, so it overflows into neighbouring memory. This is the classic overflow attackers use to overwrite return addresses and hijack execution. The fix is strict length checks and safe, bounded string and memory functions.
General guidance for the classic buffer overflow 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
>= 5.4.14, < 5.4.124>= 5.5, < 5.10.42>= 5.11, < 5.12.9= 5.13CVSS 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 · scoped5.4.1245.10.425.12.9
5.4.124+ or 5.10.42+ or 5.12.9+ or 5.14+ (depending on which branch you are on)
- Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
- Determine which version range your kernel falls into from the affected versions
- Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed version: For 5.4.x kernels, upgrade to >= 5.4.124; For 5.5-5.10.x kernels, upgrade to >= 5.10.42; For 5.11-5.12.x kernels, upgrade to >= 5.12.9; For kernel 5.13, upgrade to 5.14 or later
- Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
- Verify the new kernel version is running with `uname -r`
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-47172 — 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-2021-47172 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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