Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47535

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.10.84 / 5.15.7 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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: drm/msm/a6xx: Allocate enough space for GMU registers In commit 142639a52a01 ("drm/msm/a6xx: fix crashstate capture for A650") we changed a6xx_get_gmu_registers() to read 3 sets of registers. Unfortunately, we didn't change the memory allocation for the array. That leads to a KASAN warning (this was on the chromeos-5.4 kernel, which has the problematic commit backported to it): BUG: KASAN: slab-out-of-bounds in _a6xx_get_gmu_registers+0x144/0x430 Write of size 8 at addr ffffff80c89432b0 by task A618-worker/209 CPU: 5 PID: 209 Comm: A618-worker Tainted: G W 5.4.156-lockdep #22 Hardware name: Google Lazor Limozeen without Touchscreen (rev5 - rev8) (DT) Call trace: dump_backtrace+0x0/0x248 show_stack+0x20/0x2c dump_stack+0x128/0x1ec print_address_description+0x88/0x4a0 __kasan_report+0xfc/0x120 kasan_report+0x10/0x18 __asan_report_store8_noabort+0x1c/0x24 _a6xx_get_gmu_registers+0x144/0x430 a6xx_gpu_state_get+0x330/0x25d4 msm_gpu_crashstate_capture+0xa0/0x84c recover_worker+0x328/0x838 kthread_worker_fn+0x32c/0x574 kthread+0x2dc/0x39c ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18 Allocated by task 209: __kasan_kmalloc+0xfc/0x1c4 kasan_kmalloc+0xc/0x14 kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x1f0/0x2a0 a6xx_gpu_state_get+0x164/0x25d4 msm_gpu_crashstate_capture+0xa0/0x84c recover_worker+0x328/0x838 kthread_worker_fn+0x32c/0x574 kthread+0x2dc/0x39c ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18

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-787

The 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
Affected:>= 5.9, < 5.10.84>= 5.11, < 5.15.7= 5.16

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
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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.10.84 / 5.15.7 or later
Fixed in 5.10.845.15.7
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux Kernel 5.10.84, 5.15.7, or 5.16.1+ (depending on your current branch)

  1. Identify the currently running kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. Confirm the kernel includes the affected DRM/msm driver (check /sys or kernel config for CONFIG_DRM_MSM)
  3. Schedule a maintenance window for kernel upgrade
  4. Backup critical data before upgrade
  5. Upgrade kernel to version 5.10.84 or later (if currently 5.9-5.10.x), 5.15.7 or later (if currently 5.11-5.15.x), or 5.16.1 or later (if currently 5.16)
  6. Reboot the system to load the fixed kernel
  7. Verify the fix is applied by checking kernel version with `uname -r` and confirming no KASAN warnings in dmesg
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require coordination with hardware driver compatibility; ensure GPU drivers (particularly Adreno/msm) are compatible with target kernel

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 $3,200. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-47535 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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