Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47465

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.4.156 / 5.10.76 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: KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix stack handling in idle_kvm_start_guest() In commit 10d91611f426 ("powerpc/64s: Reimplement book3s idle code in C") kvm_start_guest() became idle_kvm_start_guest(). The old code allocated a stack frame on the emergency stack, but didn't use the frame to store anything, and also didn't store anything in its caller's frame. idle_kvm_start_guest() on the other hand is written more like a normal C function, it creates a frame on entry, and also stores CR/LR into its callers frame (per the ABI). The problem is that there is no caller frame on the emergency stack. The emergency stack for a given CPU is allocated with: paca_ptrs[i]->emergency_sp = alloc_stack(limit, i) + THREAD_SIZE; So emergency_sp actually points to the first address above the emergency stack allocation for a given CPU, we must not store above it without first decrementing it to create a frame. This is different to the regular kernel stack, paca->kstack, which is initialised to point at an initial frame that is ready to use. idle_kvm_start_guest() stores the backchain, CR and LR all of which write outside the allocation for the emergency stack. It then creates a stack frame and saves the non-volatile registers. Unfortunately the frame it creates is not large enough to fit the non-volatiles, and so the saving of the non-volatile registers also writes outside the emergency stack allocation. The end result is that we corrupt whatever is at 0-24 bytes, and 112-248 bytes above the emergency stack allocation. In practice this has gone unnoticed because the memory immediately above the emergency stack happens to be used for other stack allocations, either another CPUs mc_emergency_sp or an IRQ stack. See the order of calls to irqstack_early_init() and emergency_stack_init(). The low addresses of another stack are the top of that stack, and so are only used if that stack is under extreme pressue, which essentially never happens in practice - and if it did there's a high likelyhood we'd crash due to that stack overflowing. Still, we shouldn't be corrupting someone else's stack, and it is purely luck that we aren't corrupting something else. To fix it we save CR/LR into the caller's frame using the existing r1 on entry, we then create a SWITCH_FRAME_SIZE frame (which has space for pt_regs) on the emergency stack with the backchain pointing to the existing stack, and then finally we switch to the new frame on the emergency stack.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:>= 5.2, < 5.4.156>= 5.5, < 5.10.76>= 5.11, < 5.14.15= 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 5.4.156 / 5.10.76 / 5.14.15 or later
Fixed in 5.4.1565.10.765.14.15
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

5.4.156+, 5.10.76+, 5.14.15+, or 5.15.1+ depending on your current branch

  1. Identify the currently running Linux kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Determine which major kernel series your current version belongs to (5.2-5.4, 5.5-5.10, 5.11-5.14, or 5.15)
  3. For kernels in the 5.2-5.4.x series: upgrade to kernel version 5.4.156 or later
  4. For kernels in the 5.5-5.10.x series: upgrade to kernel version 5.10.76 or later
  5. For kernels in the 5.11-5.14.x series: upgrade to kernel version 5.14.15 or later
  6. For kernels in the 5.15.x series: upgrade to version 5.15.1 or later which contains the backported fix, or apply the upstream commit 6d077c37c4643394b1bae9682da48164fc147ea8 as a patch
  7. Reboot the system after applying the kernel upgrade
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require matching kernel modules and could have ABI changes; ensure compatibility with userspace tools and any out-of-tree modules

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

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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-2021-47465 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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