Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47288
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: media: ngene: Fix out-of-bounds bug in ngene_command_config_free_buf() Fix an 11-year old bug in ngene_command_config_free_buf() while addressing the following warnings caught with -Warray-bounds: arch/alpha/include/asm/string.h:22:16: warning: '__builtin_memcpy' offset [12, 16] from the object at 'com' is out of the bounds of referenced subobject 'config' with type 'unsigned char' at offset 10 [-Warray-bounds] arch/x86/include/asm/string_32.h:182:25: warning: '__builtin_memcpy' offset [12, 16] from the object at 'com' is out of the bounds of referenced subobject 'config' with type 'unsigned char' at offset 10 [-Warray-bounds] The problem is that the original code is trying to copy 6 bytes of data into a one-byte size member _config_ of the wrong structue FW_CONFIGURE_BUFFERS, in a single call to memcpy(). This causes a legitimate compiler warning because memcpy() overruns the length of &com.cmd.ConfigureBuffers.config. It seems that the right structure is FW_CONFIGURE_FREE_BUFFERS, instead, because it contains 6 more members apart from the header _hdr_. Also, the name of the function ngene_command_config_free_buf() suggests that the actual intention is to ConfigureFreeBuffers, instead of ConfigureBuffers (which takes place in the function ngene_command_config_buf(), above). Fix this by enclosing those 6 members of struct FW_CONFIGURE_FREE_BUFFERS into new struct config, and use &com.cmd.ConfigureFreeBuffers.config as the destination address, instead of &com.cmd.ConfigureBuffers.config, when calling memcpy(). This also helps with the ongoing efforts to globally enable -Warray-bounds and get us closer to being able to tighten the FORTIFY_SOURCE routines on memcpy().
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 analysisThe code reads past the end (or before the start) of a buffer, returning memory that was never meant to be exposed. Attackers use it to leak secrets like keys or to defeat memory-protection defences. Remediation is validating indices and lengths before every read.
General guidance for the out-of-bounds read 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
>= 2.6.34, < 4.4.277>= 4.5, < 4.9.277>= 4.10, < 4.14.241>= 4.15, < 4.19.199>= 4.20, < 5.4.136>= 5.5, < 5.10.54>= 5.11, < 5.13.6= 5.14CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 · scoped4.4.2774.9.2774.14.241
Upgrade to kernel >= 4.4.277, 4.9.277, 4.14.241, or 4.19.199 (depending on which branch you are on)
- 1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- 2. Based on the current kernel version, upgrade to a fixed release: for 4.4.x branch upgrade to >= 4.4.277; for 4.9.x branch upgrade to >= 4.9.277; for 4.14.x branch upgrade to >= 4.14.241; for 4.19.x branch upgrade to >= 4.19.199
- 3. Use the distribution's package manager to install the updated kernel (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version> for Debian/Ubuntu, or yum/dnf update for RHEL/CentOS)
- 4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
- 5. After reboot, verify the kernel version is >= the fixed release using 'uname -r'
- 6. Confirm the ngene driver is loaded properly and the media device functions normally
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-2021-47288 — 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-2021-47288 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
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