Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2021-47517
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: ethtool: do not perform operations on net devices being unregistered There is a short period between a net device starts to be unregistered and when it is actually gone. In that time frame ethtool operations could still be performed, which might end up in unwanted or undefined behaviours[1]. Do not allow ethtool operations after a net device starts its unregistration. This patch targets the netlink part as the ioctl one isn't affected: the reference to the net device is taken and the operation is executed within an rtnl lock section and the net device won't be found after unregister. [1] For example adding Tx queues after unregister ends up in NULL pointer exceptions and UaFs, such as: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in kobject_get+0x14/0x90 Read of size 1 at addr ffff88801961248c by task ethtool/755 CPU: 0 PID: 755 Comm: ethtool Not tainted 5.15.0-rc6+ #778 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.14.0-4.fc34 04/014 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x57/0x72 print_address_description.constprop.0+0x1f/0x140 kasan_report.cold+0x7f/0x11b kobject_get+0x14/0x90 kobject_add_internal+0x3d1/0x450 kobject_init_and_add+0xba/0xf0 netdev_queue_update_kobjects+0xcf/0x200 netif_set_real_num_tx_queues+0xb4/0x310 veth_set_channels+0x1c3/0x550 ethnl_set_channels+0x524/0x610
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 analysisMemory is used after it has been freed, so its contents — now potentially attacker-controlled — drive the program's behaviour. With careful heap grooming this becomes code execution. The fix requires disciplined ownership of memory and often a targeted rework of the object lifecycle.
General guidance for the use after free 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
>= 5.6, < 5.10.87>= 5.11, < 5.15.8= 5.16CVSS 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 · scoped5.10.875.15.8
5.10.87+, 5.15.8+, or 5.16.1+ (or latest stable 5.15.x/6.x)
- Identify the currently running kernel version using 'uname -r'
- Check if the system runs an affected kernel version: >= 5.6 and < 5.10.87, OR >= 5.11 and < 5.15.8, OR = 5.16
- Schedule a maintenance window for kernel upgrade
- Upgrade the Linux kernel to a fixed release: 5.10.87 or later in the 5.10.x branch, 5.15.8 or later in the 5.15.x branch, or 5.16.1 or later in the 5.16.x branch
- Alternatively, upgrade to the latest stable kernel (e.g., 5.15.x or 6.x) which contains this fix
- Reboot the system to load the new kernel
- Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version and confirming ethtool operations work correctly
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-2021-47517 — 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-2021-47517 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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