Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47350

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.133 / 5.10.51 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: powerpc/mm: Fix lockup on kernel exec fault The powerpc kernel is not prepared to handle exec faults from kernel. Especially, the function is_exec_fault() will return 'false' when an exec fault is taken by kernel, because the check is based on reading current->thread.regs->trap which contains the trap from user. For instance, when provoking a LKDTM EXEC_USERSPACE test, current->thread.regs->trap is set to SYSCALL trap (0xc00), and the fault taken by the kernel is not seen as an exec fault by set_access_flags_filter(). Commit d7df2443cd5f ("powerpc/mm: Fix spurious segfaults on radix with autonuma") made it clear and handled it properly. But later on commit d3ca587404b3 ("powerpc/mm: Fix reporting of kernel execute faults") removed that handling, introducing test based on error_code. And here is the problem, because on the 603 all upper bits of SRR1 get cleared when the TLB instruction miss handler bails out to ISI. Until commit cbd7e6ca0210 ("powerpc/fault: Avoid heavy search_exception_tables() verification"), an exec fault from kernel at a userspace address was indirectly caught by the lack of entry for that address in the exception tables. But after that commit the kernel mainly relies on KUAP or on core mm handling to catch wrong user accesses. Here the access is not wrong, so mm handles it. It is a minor fault because PAGE_EXEC is not set, set_access_flags_filter() should set PAGE_EXEC and voila. But as is_exec_fault() returns false as explained in the beginning, set_access_flags_filter() bails out without setting PAGE_EXEC flag, which leads to a forever minor exec fault. As the kernel is not prepared to handle such exec faults, the thing to do is to fire in bad_kernel_fault() for any exec fault taken by the kernel, as it was prior to commit d3ca587404b3.

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-667

Shared 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
Affected:>= 4.14, < 5.4.133>= 5.5, < 5.10.51>= 5.11, < 5.12.18>= 5.13, < 5.13.3

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 5.4.133 / 5.10.51 / 5.12.18 or later
Fixed in 5.4.1335.10.515.12.18
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.4.133+, 5.10.51+, 5.12.18+, or 5.13.3+ (choose the next stable release in your kernel branch)

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which affected version range your kernel falls into based on the version numbers
  3. Upgrade to a kernel version that includes the fix: 5.4.133 or later for 5.4.x kernels, 5.10.51 or later for 5.10.x kernels, 5.12.18 or later for 5.12.x kernels, or 5.13.3 or later for 5.13.x kernels
  4. On Debian/Ubuntu: apt-get update && apt-get upgrade linux-image-generic (or specific kernel package)
  5. On RHEL/CentOS: yum update kernel
  6. On Fedora: dnf update kernel
  7. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  8. Verify the new kernel version with 'uname -r' after reboot
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system downtime and should be tested in a staging environment first; ensure compatibility with custom modules or drivers

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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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-2021-47350 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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