Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47497
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: nvmem: Fix shift-out-of-bound (UBSAN) with byte size cells If a cell has 'nbits' equal to a multiple of BITS_PER_BYTE the logic *p &= GENMASK((cell->nbits%BITS_PER_BYTE) - 1, 0); will become undefined behavior because nbits modulo BITS_PER_BYTE is 0, and we subtract one from that making a large number that is then shifted more than the number of bits that fit into an unsigned long. UBSAN reports this problem: UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in drivers/nvmem/core.c:1386:8 shift exponent 64 is too large for 64-bit type 'unsigned long' CPU: 6 PID: 7 Comm: kworker/u16:0 Not tainted 5.15.0-rc3+ #9 Hardware name: Google Lazor (rev3+) with KB Backlight (DT) Workqueue: events_unbound deferred_probe_work_func Call trace: dump_backtrace+0x0/0x170 show_stack+0x24/0x30 dump_stack_lvl+0x64/0x7c dump_stack+0x18/0x38 ubsan_epilogue+0x10/0x54 __ubsan_handle_shift_out_of_bounds+0x180/0x194 __nvmem_cell_read+0x1ec/0x21c nvmem_cell_read+0x58/0x94 nvmem_cell_read_variable_common+0x4c/0xb0 nvmem_cell_read_variable_le_u32+0x40/0x100 a6xx_gpu_init+0x170/0x2f4 adreno_bind+0x174/0x284 component_bind_all+0xf0/0x264 msm_drm_bind+0x1d8/0x7a0 try_to_bring_up_master+0x164/0x1ac __component_add+0xbc/0x13c component_add+0x20/0x2c dp_display_probe+0x340/0x384 platform_probe+0xc0/0x100 really_probe+0x110/0x304 __driver_probe_device+0xb8/0x120 driver_probe_device+0x4c/0xfc __device_attach_driver+0xb0/0x128 bus_for_each_drv+0x90/0xdc __device_attach+0xc8/0x174 device_initial_probe+0x20/0x2c bus_probe_device+0x40/0xa4 deferred_probe_work_func+0x7c/0xb8 process_one_work+0x128/0x21c process_scheduled_works+0x40/0x54 worker_thread+0x1ec/0x2a8 kthread+0x138/0x158 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x20 Fix it by making sure there are any bits to mask out.
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
>= 4.3, < 4.4.290>= 4.5, < 4.9.288>= 4.10, < 4.14.252>= 4.15, < 4.19.213>= 4.20, < 5.4.155>= 5.5, < 5.10.75>= 5.11, < 5.14.14= 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 · scoped4.4.2904.9.2884.14.252
Linux kernel 4.4.290, 4.9.288, 4.14.252, or 4.19.213 (or later stable release)
- 1. Identify the current running kernel version using 'uname -r'
- 2. Check if the current version is affected: any version >= 4.3 and < 4.4.290, >= 4.5 and < 4.9.288, >= 4.10 and < 4.14.252, or >= 4.15 and < 4.19.213
- 3. If affected, upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed version: 4.4.290+, 4.9.288+, 4.14.252+, or 4.19.213+ (or newer stable release)
- 4. Update the kernel package using the distribution's package manager (e.g., apt-get update && apt-get install linux-image-<version> for Debian/Ubuntu, or yum/dnf for RHEL/Fedora)
- 5. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
- 6. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming the NVMEM subsystem works without the UBSAN error
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-2021-47497 — 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-2021-47497 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