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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47196

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.5 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: RDMA/core: Set send and receive CQ before forwarding to the driver Preset both receive and send CQ pointers prior to call to the drivers and overwrite it later again till the mlx4 is going to be changed do not overwrite ibqp properties. This change is needed for mlx5, because in case of QP creation failure, it will go to the path of QP destroy which relies on proper CQ pointers. BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in create_qp.cold+0x164/0x16e [mlx5_ib] Write of size 8 at addr ffff8880064c55c0 by task a.out/246 CPU: 0 PID: 246 Comm: a.out Not tainted 5.15.0+ #291 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x45/0x59 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x1f/0x140 kasan_report.cold+0x83/0xdf create_qp.cold+0x164/0x16e [mlx5_ib] mlx5_ib_create_qp+0x358/0x28a0 [mlx5_ib] create_qp.part.0+0x45b/0x6a0 [ib_core] ib_create_qp_user+0x97/0x150 [ib_core] ib_uverbs_handler_UVERBS_METHOD_QP_CREATE+0x92c/0x1250 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_cmd_verbs+0x1c38/0x3150 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_ioctl+0x169/0x260 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x866/0x14d0 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae Allocated by task 246: kasan_save_stack+0x1b/0x40 __kasan_kmalloc+0xa4/0xd0 create_qp.part.0+0x92/0x6a0 [ib_core] ib_create_qp_user+0x97/0x150 [ib_core] ib_uverbs_handler_UVERBS_METHOD_QP_CREATE+0x92c/0x1250 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_cmd_verbs+0x1c38/0x3150 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_ioctl+0x169/0x260 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x866/0x14d0 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae Freed by task 246: kasan_save_stack+0x1b/0x40 kasan_set_track+0x1c/0x30 kasan_set_free_info+0x20/0x30 __kasan_slab_free+0x10c/0x150 slab_free_freelist_hook+0xb4/0x1b0 kfree+0xe7/0x2a0 create_qp.part.0+0x52b/0x6a0 [ib_core] ib_create_qp_user+0x97/0x150 [ib_core] ib_uverbs_handler_UVERBS_METHOD_QP_CREATE+0x92c/0x1250 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_cmd_verbs+0x1c38/0x3150 [ib_uverbs] ib_uverbs_ioctl+0x169/0x260 [ib_uverbs] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x866/0x14d0 do_syscall_64+0x3d/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

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-416

Memory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.

General guidance for the use after free 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:>= 5.15, < 5.15.5= 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 5.15.5 or later
Fixed in 5.15.5
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.15.5 or later (5.15.x stable), or 5.16.1 or later (5.16.x stable)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Check if the current version is affected: versions 5.15.0 through 5.15.4, or 5.16.0
  3. Schedule a maintenance window for kernel upgrade
  4. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 5.15.5 or later for the 5.15.x stable branch, or 5.16.1 or later for the 5.16.x branch
  5. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  6. Verify the kernel version after reboot using `uname -r` and confirm it includes the fix (commit 6cd7397d01c4a3e09757840299e4f114f0aa5fa0)
Caveat Standard kernel upgrade risks apply - ensure compatibility with custom kernel modules, drivers, and in-kernel dependencies before production deployment

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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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-2021-47196 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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