Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47366
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: afs: Fix corruption in reads at fpos 2G-4G from an OpenAFS server AFS-3 has two data fetch RPC variants, FS.FetchData and FS.FetchData64, and Linux's afs client switches between them when talking to a non-YFS server if the read size, the file position or the sum of the two have the upper 32 bits set of the 64-bit value. This is a problem, however, since the file position and length fields of FS.FetchData are *signed* 32-bit values. Fix this by capturing the capability bits obtained from the fileserver when it's sent an FS.GetCapabilities RPC, rather than just discarding them, and then picking out the VICED_CAPABILITY_64BITFILES flag. This can then be used to decide whether to use FS.FetchData or FS.FetchData64 - and also FS.StoreData or FS.StoreData64 - rather than using upper_32_bits() to switch on the parameter values. This capabilities flag could also be used to limit the maximum size of the file, but all servers must be checked for that. Note that the issue does not exist with FS.StoreData - that uses *unsigned* 32-bit values. It's also not a problem with Auristor servers as its YFS.FetchData64 op uses unsigned 64-bit values. This can be tested by cloning a git repo through an OpenAFS client to an OpenAFS server and then doing "git status" on it from a Linux afs client[1]. Provided the clone has a pack file that's in the 2G-4G range, the git status will show errors like: error: packfile .git/objects/pack/pack-5e813c51d12b6847bbc0fcd97c2bca66da50079c.pack does not match index error: packfile .git/objects/pack/pack-5e813c51d12b6847bbc0fcd97c2bca66da50079c.pack does not match index This can be observed in the server's FileLog with something like the following appearing: Sun Aug 29 19:31:39 2021 SRXAFS_FetchData, Fid = 2303380852.491776.3263114, Host 192.168.11.201:7001, Id 1001 Sun Aug 29 19:31:39 2021 CheckRights: len=0, for host=192.168.11.201:7001 Sun Aug 29 19:31:39 2021 FetchData_RXStyle: Pos 18446744071815340032, Len 3154 Sun Aug 29 19:31:39 2021 FetchData_RXStyle: file size 2400758866 ... Sun Aug 29 19:31:40 2021 SRXAFS_FetchData returns 5 Note the file position of 18446744071815340032. This is the requested file position sign-extended.
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 program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.
General guidance for the out-of-bounds write 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
>= 2.6.22, < 5.14.9= 5.15CVSS 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 · scoped5.14.9
Linux Kernel 5.14.9 or later; Linux Kernel 5.15.0 or later (with backported fix)
- Identify the current Linux kernel version running on affected systems using 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version'
- For systems running kernel >= 2.6.22 and < 5.14.9: Upgrade to kernel version 5.14.9 or later
- For systems running kernel 5.15.x: Upgrade to a version that includes the fix (5.15.0 or later that has the patch backported)
- Alternatively, if using a distribution kernel (e.g., Ubuntu, Red Hat, Debian), apply the distribution's security update that includes this fix
- Reboot systems after kernel upgrade to load the fixed kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming afs client functionality works correctly with large files (>2GB)
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-2021-47366 — 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-2021-47366 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data