Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47242
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: mptcp: fix soft lookup in subflow_error_report() Maxim reported a soft lookup in subflow_error_report(): watchdog: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#0 stuck for 22s! [swapper/0:0] RIP: 0010:native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath RSP: 0018:ffffa859c0003bc0 EFLAGS: 00000202 RAX: 0000000000000101 RBX: 0000000000000001 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: ffff9195c2772d88 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: ffff9195c2772d88 RBP: ffff9195c2772d00 R08: 00000000000067b0 R09: c6e31da9eb1e44f4 R10: ffff9195ef379700 R11: ffff9195edb50710 R12: ffff9195c2772d88 R13: ffff9195f500e3d0 R14: ffff9195ef379700 R15: ffff9195ef379700 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff91961f400000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 000000c000407000 CR3: 0000000002988000 CR4: 00000000000006f0 Call Trace: <IRQ> _raw_spin_lock_bh subflow_error_report mptcp_subflow_data_available __mptcp_move_skbs_from_subflow mptcp_data_ready tcp_data_queue tcp_rcv_established tcp_v4_do_rcv tcp_v4_rcv ip_protocol_deliver_rcu ip_local_deliver_finish __netif_receive_skb_one_core netif_receive_skb rtl8139_poll 8139too __napi_poll net_rx_action __do_softirq __irq_exit_rcu common_interrupt </IRQ> The calling function - mptcp_subflow_data_available() - can be invoked from different contexts: - plain ssk socket lock - ssk socket lock + mptcp_data_lock - ssk socket lock + mptcp_data_lock + msk socket lock. Since subflow_error_report() tries to acquire the mptcp_data_lock, the latter two call chains will cause soft lookup. This change addresses the issue moving the error reporting call to outer functions, where the held locks list is known and the we can acquire only the needed one.
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 analysisShared resources are accessed without correct locking, so concurrent operations interleave into inconsistent — and sometimes exploitable — states, or deadlock the service outright. These bugs are subtle and timing-dependent. The fix is correct, consistent locking or atomic operations around every shared resource.
General guidance for the improper locking 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
>= 5.11.12, < 5.12.13= 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 · scoped5.12.13
Kernel 5.12.13 or later; or kernel 5.14 or later for systems currently on 5.13.x
- Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
- If running kernel >= 5.11.12 and < 5.12.13, upgrade to kernel >= 5.12.13
- If running kernel 5.13.x, upgrade to kernel >= 5.14.0
- Reboot the system to apply the new kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the subflow_error_report function no longer acquires mptcp_data_lock in problematic contexts
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-2021-47242 — 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-2021-47242 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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