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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47266

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.126 / 5.9 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: RDMA/ipoib: Fix warning caused by destroying non-initial netns After the commit 5ce2dced8e95 ("RDMA/ipoib: Set rtnl_link_ops for ipoib interfaces"), if the IPoIB device is moved to non-initial netns, destroying that netns lets the device vanish instead of moving it back to the initial netns, This is happening because default_device_exit() skips the interfaces due to having rtnl_link_ops set. Steps to reporoduce: ip netns add foo ip link set mlx5_ib0 netns foo ip netns delete foo WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 704 at net/core/dev.c:11435 netdev_exit+0x3f/0x50 Modules linked in: xt_CHECKSUM xt_MASQUERADE xt_conntrack ipt_REJECT nf_reject_ipv4 nft_compat nft_counter nft_chain_nat nf_nat nf_conntrack nf_defrag_ipv6 nf_defrag_ipv4 nf_tables nfnetlink tun d fuse CPU: 1 PID: 704 Comm: kworker/u64:3 Tainted: G S W 5.13.0-rc1+ #1 Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R630/02C2CP, BIOS 2.1.5 04/11/2016 Workqueue: netns cleanup_net RIP: 0010:netdev_exit+0x3f/0x50 Code: 48 8b bb 30 01 00 00 e8 ef 81 b1 ff 48 81 fb c0 3a 54 a1 74 13 48 8b 83 90 00 00 00 48 81 c3 90 00 00 00 48 39 d8 75 02 5b c3 <0f> 0b 5b c3 66 66 2e 0f 1f 84 00 00 00 00 00 66 90 0f 1f 44 00 RSP: 0018:ffffb297079d7e08 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: ffff8eb542c00040 RBX: ffff8eb541333150 RCX: 000000008010000d RDX: 000000008010000e RSI: 000000008010000d RDI: ffff8eb440042c00 RBP: ffffb297079d7e48 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffffff9fdeac00 R10: ffff8eb5003be000 R11: 0000000000000001 R12: ffffffffa1545620 R13: ffffffffa1545628 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffffffffa1543b20 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8ed37fa00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00005601b5f4c2e8 CR3: 0000001fc8c10002 CR4: 00000000003706e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: ops_exit_list.isra.9+0x36/0x70 cleanup_net+0x234/0x390 process_one_work+0x1cb/0x360 ? process_one_work+0x360/0x360 worker_thread+0x30/0x370 ? process_one_work+0x360/0x360 kthread+0x116/0x130 ? kthread_park+0x80/0x80 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 To avoid the above warning and later on the kernel panic that could happen on shutdown due to a NULL pointer dereference, make sure to set the netns_refund flag that was introduced by commit 3a5ca857079e ("can: dev: Move device back to init netns on owning netns delete") to properly restore the IPoIB interfaces to the initial netns.

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-476

The code follows a pointer that is null, crashing the process. An attacker who can reliably trigger it turns the crash into a denial of service. The fix is checking for null before use and handling the failure path gracefully.

General guidance for the null pointer dereference 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:>= 5.4.73, < 5.4.126>= 5.8.17, < 5.9>= 5.9.2, < 5.10>= 5.10, < 5.10.44>= 5.11, < 5.12.11= 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 5.4.126 / 5.9 / 5.10 or later
Fixed in 5.4.1265.95.10
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

5.4.126+ / 5.10.44+ / 5.9+ (mainline)

  1. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 5.4.126 or later if using the 5.4.x stable branch
  2. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 5.10.44 or later if using the 5.10.x stable branch
  3. If using the 5.9.x branch, upgrade to version 5.9.x (the fix was merged into the mainline)
  4. If using the 5.8.x branch, note that 5.8 reached end of life; migrate to a supported stable branch like 5.10.x or 5.4.x
Caveat Ensure compatibility of the 5.10.44+ or 5.4.126+ kernel with your system hardware and existing software stack before upgrading; 5.8.x is EOL and should not be used

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 $2,850. 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-2021-47266 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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