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Linux KernelOperating system · Linux

CVE-2021-47552

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.15.6 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: blk-mq: cancel blk-mq dispatch work in both blk_cleanup_queue and disk_release() For avoiding to slow down queue destroy, we don't call blk_mq_quiesce_queue() in blk_cleanup_queue(), instead of delaying to cancel dispatch work in blk_release_queue(). However, this way has caused kernel oops[1], reported by Changhui. The log shows that scsi_device can be freed before running blk_release_queue(), which is expected too since scsi_device is released after the scsi disk is closed and the scsi_device is removed. Fixes the issue by canceling blk-mq dispatch work in both blk_cleanup_queue() and disk_release(): 1) when disk_release() is run, the disk has been closed, and any sync dispatch activities have been done, so canceling dispatch work is enough to quiesce filesystem I/O dispatch activity. 2) in blk_cleanup_queue(), we only focus on passthrough request, and passthrough request is always explicitly allocated & freed by its caller, so once queue is frozen, all sync dispatch activity for passthrough request has been done, then it is enough to just cancel dispatch work for avoiding any dispatch activity. [1] kernel panic log [12622.769416] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000300 [12622.777186] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [12622.782918] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [12622.788649] PGD 0 P4D 0 [12622.791474] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI [12622.796138] CPU: 10 PID: 744 Comm: kworker/10:1H Kdump: loaded Not tainted 5.15.0+ #1 [12622.804877] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R730/0H21J3, BIOS 1.5.4 10/002/2015 [12622.813321] Workqueue: kblockd blk_mq_run_work_fn [12622.818572] RIP: 0010:sbitmap_get+0x75/0x190 [12622.823336] Code: 85 80 00 00 00 41 8b 57 08 85 d2 0f 84 b1 00 00 00 45 31 e4 48 63 cd 48 8d 1c 49 48 c1 e3 06 49 03 5f 10 4c 8d 6b 40 83 f0 01 <48> 8b 33 44 89 f2 4c 89 ef 0f b6 c8 e8 fa f3 ff ff 83 f8 ff 75 58 [12622.844290] RSP: 0018:ffffb00a446dbd40 EFLAGS: 00010202 [12622.850120] RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: 0000000000000300 RCX: 0000000000000004 [12622.858082] RDX: 0000000000000006 RSI: 0000000000000082 RDI: ffffa0b7a2dfe030 [12622.866042] RBP: 0000000000000004 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffa0b742721334 [12622.874003] R10: 0000000000000008 R11: 0000000000000008 R12: 0000000000000000 [12622.881964] R13: 0000000000000340 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffffa0b7a2dfe030 [12622.889926] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffffa0baafb40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [12622.898956] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [12622.905367] CR2: 0000000000000300 CR3: 0000000641210001 CR4: 00000000001706e0 [12622.913328] Call Trace: [12622.916055] <TASK> [12622.918394] scsi_mq_get_budget+0x1a/0x110 [12622.922969] __blk_mq_do_dispatch_sched+0x1d4/0x320 [12622.928404] ? pick_next_task_fair+0x39/0x390 [12622.933268] __blk_mq_sched_dispatch_requests+0xf4/0x140 [12622.939194] blk_mq_sched_dispatch_requests+0x30/0x60 [12622.944829] __blk_mq_run_hw_queue+0x30/0xa0 [12622.949593] process_one_work+0x1e8/0x3c0 [12622.954059] worker_thread+0x50/0x3b0 [12622.958144] ? rescuer_thread+0x370/0x370 [12622.962616] kthread+0x158/0x180 [12622.966218] ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40 [12622.970884] ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 [12622.974875] </TASK> [12622.977309] Modules linked in: scsi_debug rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss nfsv4 dns_resolver nfs lockd grace fscache netfs sunrpc dm_multipath intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common dell_wmi_descriptor sb_edac rfkill video x86_pkg_temp_thermal intel_powerclamp dcdbas coretemp kvm_intel kvm mgag200 irqbypass i2c_algo_bit rapl drm_kms_helper ipmi_ssif intel_cstate intel_uncore syscopyarea sysfillrect sysimgblt fb_sys_fops pcspkr cec mei_me lpc_ich mei ipmi_si ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler acpi_power_meter drm fuse xfs libcrc32c sr_mod cdrom sd_mod t10_pi sg ixgbe ahci libahci crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel libata megaraid_sas ghash_clmulni_intel tg3 wdat_w ---truncated---

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:< 5.15.6= 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
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 5.15.6 or later
Fixed in 5.15.6
Vendor patch git.kernel.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

Linux kernel 5.15.6 or later (or 5.17+)

  1. 1. Identify the current kernel version using `uname -r`
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the kernel upgrade
  3. 3. Upgrade the Linux kernel to version 5.15.6 or later (including 5.17+), or obtain a vendor-supplied kernel patch that includes commit 2a19b28f7929866e1cec92a3619f4de9f2d20005
  4. 4. Reboot the system to load the new kernel
  5. 5. Verify the fix is applied by checking the kernel version with `uname -r` and confirming the system no longer experiences the NULL pointer dereference during blk-mq operations
Caveat Kernel upgrades may require system reboot and could introduce compatibility issues with out-of-tree kernel modules or specific hardware drivers; test in non-production environment first

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

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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

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