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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47337

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.9.276 / 4.14.240 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: scsi: core: Fix bad pointer dereference when ehandler kthread is invalid Commit 66a834d09293 ("scsi: core: Fix error handling of scsi_host_alloc()") changed the allocation logic to call put_device() to perform host cleanup with the assumption that IDA removal and stopping the kthread would properly be performed in scsi_host_dev_release(). However, in the unlikely case that the error handler thread fails to spawn, shost->ehandler is set to ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM). The error handler cleanup code in scsi_host_dev_release() will call kthread_stop() if shost->ehandler != NULL which will always be the case whether the kthread was successfully spawned or not. In the case that it failed to spawn this has the nasty side effect of trying to dereference an invalid pointer when kthread_stop() is called. The following splat provides an example of this behavior in the wild: scsi host11: error handler thread failed to spawn, error = -4 Kernel attempted to read user page (10c) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x0000010c Faulting instruction address: 0xc00000000818e9a8 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: ibmvscsi(+) scsi_transport_srp dm_multipath dm_mirror dm_region hash dm_log dm_mod fuse overlay squashfs loop CPU: 12 PID: 274 Comm: systemd-udevd Not tainted 5.13.0-rc7 #1 NIP: c00000000818e9a8 LR: c0000000089846e8 CTR: 0000000000007ee8 REGS: c000000037d12ea0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (5.13.0-rc7) MSR: 800000000280b033 <SF,VEC,VSX,EE,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 28228228 XER: 20040001 CFAR: c0000000089846e4 DAR: 000000000000010c DSISR: 40000000 IRQMASK: 0 GPR00: c0000000089846e8 c000000037d13140 c000000009cc1100 fffffffffffffffc GPR04: 0000000000000001 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 c000000037dc0000 GPR08: 0000000000000000 c000000037dc0000 0000000000000001 00000000fffff7ff GPR12: 0000000000008000 c00000000a049000 c000000037d13d00 000000011134d5a0 GPR16: 0000000000001740 c0080000190d0000 c0080000190d1740 c000000009129288 GPR20: c000000037d13bc0 0000000000000001 c000000037d13bc0 c0080000190b7898 GPR24: c0080000190b7708 0000000000000000 c000000033bb2c48 0000000000000000 GPR28: c000000046b28280 0000000000000000 000000000000010c fffffffffffffffc NIP [c00000000818e9a8] kthread_stop+0x38/0x230 LR [c0000000089846e8] scsi_host_dev_release+0x98/0x160 Call Trace: [c000000033bb2c48] 0xc000000033bb2c48 (unreliable) [c0000000089846e8] scsi_host_dev_release+0x98/0x160 [c00000000891e960] device_release+0x60/0x100 [c0000000087e55c4] kobject_release+0x84/0x210 [c00000000891ec78] put_device+0x28/0x40 [c000000008984ea4] scsi_host_alloc+0x314/0x430 [c0080000190b38bc] ibmvscsi_probe+0x54/0xad0 [ibmvscsi] [c000000008110104] vio_bus_probe+0xa4/0x4b0 [c00000000892a860] really_probe+0x140/0x680 [c00000000892aefc] driver_probe_device+0x15c/0x200 [c00000000892b63c] device_driver_attach+0xcc/0xe0 [c00000000892b740] __driver_attach+0xf0/0x200 [c000000008926f28] bus_for_each_dev+0xa8/0x130 [c000000008929ce4] driver_attach+0x34/0x50 [c000000008928fc0] bus_add_driver+0x1b0/0x300 [c00000000892c798] driver_register+0x98/0x1a0 [c00000000810eb60] __vio_register_driver+0x80/0xe0 [c0080000190b4a30] ibmvscsi_module_init+0x9c/0xdc [ibmvscsi] [c0000000080121d0] do_one_initcall+0x60/0x2d0 [c000000008261abc] do_init_module+0x7c/0x320 [c000000008265700] load_module+0x2350/0x25b0 [c000000008265cb4] __do_sys_finit_module+0xd4/0x160 [c000000008031110] system_call_exception+0x150/0x2d0 [c00000000800d35c] system_call_common+0xec/0x278 Fix this be nulling shost->ehandler when the kthread fails to spawn.

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:>= 4.9.273, < 4.9.276>= 4.14.237, < 4.14.240>= 4.19.195, < 4.19.198>= 5.4.126, < 5.4.134>= 5.10.44, < 5.10.52>= 5.12.11, < 5.12.19>= 5.13, < 5.13.4= 5.14

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 4.9.276 / 4.14.240 / 4.19.198 or later
Fixed in 4.9.2764.14.2404.19.198
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to kernel 4.9.276, 4.14.240, 4.19.198, 5.4.134 or later (or any stable kernel >= 5.4.135, >= 5.10.52, >= 5.12.17 that contains the fix)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Download or obtain the kernel package for the next stable release in your current branch (e.g., 4.9.276, 4.14.240, 4.19.198, or 5.4.134 or later)
  3. Update the kernel package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., 'apt-get install linux-image-<version>' for Debian/Ubuntu, 'yum update kernel' for RHEL/CentOS, or 'zypper update kernel' for SUSE)
  4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking that 'scsi_host_alloc' properly sets ehandler to NULL when kthread creation fails
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require driver compatibility verification; ensure dependent kernel modules are rebuilt for the new version

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

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