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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47238

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.3 / 3.17 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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: net: ipv4: fix memory leak in ip_mc_add1_src BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888101bc4c00 (size 32): comm "syz-executor527", pid 360, jiffies 4294807421 (age 19.329s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ac 14 14 bb 00 00 02 00 ................ backtrace: [<00000000f17c5244>] kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:558 [inline] [<00000000f17c5244>] kzalloc include/linux/slab.h:688 [inline] [<00000000f17c5244>] ip_mc_add1_src net/ipv4/igmp.c:1971 [inline] [<00000000f17c5244>] ip_mc_add_src+0x95f/0xdb0 net/ipv4/igmp.c:2095 [<000000001cb99709>] ip_mc_source+0x84c/0xea0 net/ipv4/igmp.c:2416 [<0000000052cf19ed>] do_ip_setsockopt net/ipv4/ip_sockglue.c:1294 [inline] [<0000000052cf19ed>] ip_setsockopt+0x114b/0x30c0 net/ipv4/ip_sockglue.c:1423 [<00000000477edfbc>] raw_setsockopt+0x13d/0x170 net/ipv4/raw.c:857 [<00000000e75ca9bb>] __sys_setsockopt+0x158/0x270 net/socket.c:2117 [<00000000bdb993a8>] __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2128 [inline] [<00000000bdb993a8>] __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2125 [inline] [<00000000bdb993a8>] __x64_sys_setsockopt+0xba/0x150 net/socket.c:2125 [<000000006a1ffdbd>] do_syscall_64+0x40/0x80 arch/x86/entry/common.c:47 [<00000000b11467c4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae In commit 24803f38a5c0 ("igmp: do not remove igmp souce list info when set link down"), the ip_mc_clear_src() in ip_mc_destroy_dev() was removed, because it was also called in igmpv3_clear_delrec(). Rough callgraph: inetdev_destroy -> ip_mc_destroy_dev -> igmpv3_clear_delrec -> ip_mc_clear_src -> RCU_INIT_POINTER(dev->ip_ptr, NULL) However, ip_mc_clear_src() called in igmpv3_clear_delrec() doesn't release in_dev->mc_list->sources. And RCU_INIT_POINTER() assigns the NULL to dev->ip_ptr. As a result, in_dev cannot be obtained through inetdev_by_index() and then in_dev->mc_list->sources cannot be released by ip_mc_del1_src() in the sock_close. Rough call sequence goes like: sock_close -> __sock_release -> inet_release -> ip_mc_drop_socket -> inetdev_by_index -> ip_mc_leave_src -> ip_mc_del_src -> ip_mc_del1_src So we still need to call ip_mc_clear_src() in ip_mc_destroy_dev() to free in_dev->mc_list->sources.

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-400

A single request can consume unbounded CPU, memory, or connections, so a modest amount of malicious traffic exhausts the service. The result is denial of service for everyone else. Remediation is enforcing limits, quotas, and timeouts on what any one request can use.

General guidance for the uncontrolled resource consumption 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:>= 3.2.87, < 3.3>= 3.16.42, < 3.17>= 4.9, < 4.9.274>= 4.10, < 4.14.238>= 4.15, < 4.19.196>= 4.20, < 5.4.128>= 5.5, < 5.10.46>= 5.11, < 5.12.13= 5.13

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 3.3 / 3.17 / 4.9.274 or later
Fixed in 3.33.174.9.274
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 4.9.274, 4.14.238, 5.4.113, 5.10.31, 5.11.14 or later stable releases

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Download or obtain the fixed kernel version for your distribution that includes the fix commit 0dc13e75507faa17ac9f7562b4ef7bf8fcd78422
  3. For stable/longterm kernels, the fix is included in: 4.9.274, 4.14.238, 5.4.113, 5.10.31, 5.11.14, and later versions
  4. Upgrade the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `apt-get update && apt-get upgrade`, `yum update`, or `dnf upgrade`)
  5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the memory leak no longer occurs
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; ensure backups and test in non-production environment first

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

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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-2021-47238 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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