# CVE-2021-28972: Memory corruption in n/a

> A buffer overflow in the Linux kernel RPA PCI Hotplug driver allows local users to write to kernel stack memory, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 22 Mar 2021
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-6543, DEBIAN-CVE-2021-28972, GHSA-22g7-8p7v-6gr8, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-28972

## What is CVE-2021-28972?

CVE-2021-28972 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 22 Mar 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In drivers/pci/hotplug/rpadlpar_sysfs.c in the Linux kernel through 5.11.8, the RPA PCI Hotplug driver has a user-tolerable buffer overflow when writing a new device name to the driver from userspace, allowing userspace to write data to the kernel stack frame directly. This occurs because add_slot_store and remove_slot_store mishandle drc_name '\0' termination, aka CID-cc7a0bb058b8.

Weakness: CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-28972?

It affects 5 products.


Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Linux kernel, Netapp Cloud Backup, Netapp Fas\/Aff Baseboard Management Controller, Netapp Solidfire Baseboard Management Controller Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-28972?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-28972 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-28972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-28972 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-28972 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 22 Mar 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-28972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-28972/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-28972/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-28972
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-28972
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-28972

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-28972/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.