Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47406
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: ext4: add error checking to ext4_ext_replay_set_iblocks() If the call to ext4_map_blocks() fails due to an corrupted file system, ext4_ext_replay_set_iblocks() can get stuck in an infinite loop. This could be reproduced by running generic/526 with a file system that has inline_data and fast_commit enabled. The system will repeatedly log to the console: EXT4-fs warning (device dm-3): ext4_block_to_path:105: block 1074800922 > max in inode 131076 and the stack that it gets stuck in is: ext4_block_to_path+0xe3/0x130 ext4_ind_map_blocks+0x93/0x690 ext4_map_blocks+0x100/0x660 skip_hole+0x47/0x70 ext4_ext_replay_set_iblocks+0x223/0x440 ext4_fc_replay_inode+0x29e/0x3b0 ext4_fc_replay+0x278/0x550 do_one_pass+0x646/0xc10 jbd2_journal_recover+0x14a/0x270 jbd2_journal_load+0xc4/0x150 ext4_load_journal+0x1f3/0x490 ext4_fill_super+0x22d4/0x2c00 With this patch, generic/526 still fails, but system is no longer locking up in a tight loop. It's likely the root casue is that fast_commit replay is corrupting file systems with inline_data, and we probably need to add better error handling in the fast commit replay code path beyond what is done here, which essentially just breaks the infinite loop without reporting the to the higher levels of the code.
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 analysisCrafted input drives a loop whose exit condition is never satisfied, hanging the thread and starving the service of the resource it occupies. A single request can be enough to take a worker down. Remediation is bounding iteration counts and validating the conditions that are supposed to terminate the loop.
General guidance for the infinite loop 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
>= 5.10, < 5.10.71>= 5.11, < 5.14.10= 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 · scoped5.10.715.14.10
Upgrade to kernel 5.10.71+ (for 5.10.x), 5.14.10+ (for 5.11-5.14.x), or 5.15.1+ (for 5.15.x)
- Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Determine which kernel branch you are on (5.10.x, 5.11-5.14.x, or 5.15.x)
- For kernels >= 5.10 and < 5.10.71: Plan upgrade to kernel 5.10.71 or later
- For kernels >= 5.11 and < 5.14.10: Plan upgrade to kernel 5.14.10 or later
- For kernel 5.15: Plan upgrade to kernel 5.15.1 or later (which contains the fix in commit 1fd95c05d8f742abfe906620780aee4dbe1a2db0)
- Apply the kernel upgrade via distribution package manager (e.g., apt-get dist-upgrade, yum update, or dnf upgrade)
- Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version matches or exceeds the target fixed version
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-2021-47406 — 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-2021-47406 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
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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