dbcve.org
Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47418

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.4.289 / 4.9.287 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: net_sched: fix NULL deref in fifo_set_limit() syzbot reported another NULL deref in fifo_set_limit() [1] I could repro the issue with : unshare -n tc qd add dev lo root handle 1:0 tbf limit 200000 burst 70000 rate 100Mbit tc qd replace dev lo parent 1:0 pfifo_fast tc qd change dev lo root handle 1:0 tbf limit 300000 burst 70000 rate 100Mbit pfifo_fast does not have a change() operation. Make fifo_set_limit() more robust about this. [1] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 PGD 1cf99067 P4D 1cf99067 PUD 7ca49067 PMD 0 Oops: 0010 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN CPU: 1 PID: 14443 Comm: syz-executor959 Not tainted 5.15.0-rc3-syzkaller #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 RIP: 0010:0x0 Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at RIP 0xffffffffffffffd6. RSP: 0018:ffffc9000e2f7310 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: dffffc0000000000 RBX: ffffffff8d6ecc00 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff888024c27910 RDI: ffff888071e34000 RBP: ffff888071e34000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffffff8fcfb947 R10: 0000000000000001 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff888024c27910 R13: ffff888071e34018 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88801ef74800 FS: 00007f321d897700(0000) GS:ffff8880b9d00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: ffffffffffffffd6 CR3: 00000000722c3000 CR4: 00000000003506e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: fifo_set_limit net/sched/sch_fifo.c:242 [inline] fifo_set_limit+0x198/0x210 net/sched/sch_fifo.c:227 tbf_change+0x6ec/0x16d0 net/sched/sch_tbf.c:418 qdisc_change net/sched/sch_api.c:1332 [inline] tc_modify_qdisc+0xd9a/0x1a60 net/sched/sch_api.c:1634 rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x413/0xb80 net/core/rtnetlink.c:5572 netlink_rcv_skb+0x153/0x420 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2504 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1314 [inline] netlink_unicast+0x533/0x7d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1340 netlink_sendmsg+0x86d/0xdb0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1929 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:704 [inline] sock_sendmsg+0xcf/0x120 net/socket.c:724 ____sys_sendmsg+0x6e8/0x810 net/socket.c:2409 ___sys_sendmsg+0xf3/0x170 net/socket.c:2463 __sys_sendmsg+0xe5/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2492 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:50 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x35/0xb0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:80 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae

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:>= 2.6.27, < 4.4.289>= 4.5, < 4.9.287>= 4.10, < 4.14.251>= 4.15, < 4.19.211>= 4.20, < 5.4.153>= 5.5, < 5.10.73>= 5.11, < 5.14.12= 5.15

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 4.4.289 / 4.9.287 / 4.14.251 or later
Fixed in 4.4.2894.9.2874.14.251
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 4.4.289+ / 4.9.287+ / 4.14.251+ / 4.19.211+ (depending on your current branch)

  1. Identify the current running Linux kernel version using 'uname -r'
  2. Determine which major kernel branch your version belongs to (e.g., 4.4.x, 4.9.x, 4.14.x, or 4.19.x)
  3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version that includes the fix: for 4.4.x branch use >= 4.4.289, for 4.9.x use >= 4.9.287, for 4.14.x use >= 4.14.251, for 4.19.x use >= 4.19.211
  4. Reboot the system to load the patched kernel
  5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the patch commit (08d7056e8e250fd2e67dbea5be5fdecdd75bf6b4) is included
Caveat Upgrading kernel versions may require infrastructure reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with custom kernel modules or older 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 $2,850. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-47418 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2021-47418 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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