# CVE-2021-4439: isdn: cpai: check ctr->cnr to avoid array index out of bound

> A local attacker can trigger an out-of-bounds array access in the Linux kernel ISDN CAPI driver, causing a system crash.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 20 Jun 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-4439, GHSA-gcrq-r544-wxfh, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-4439

## What is CVE-2021-4439?

CVE-2021-4439 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Jun 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

isdn: cpai: check ctr->cnr to avoid array index out of bound

The cmtp_add_connection() would add a cmtp session to a controller
and run a kernel thread to process cmtp.

	__module_get(THIS_MODULE);
	session->task = kthread_run(cmtp_session, session, "kcmtpd_ctr_%d",
								session->num);

During this process, the kernel thread would call detach_capi_ctr()
to detach a register controller. if the controller
was not attached yet, detach_capi_ctr() would
trigger an array-index-out-bounds bug.

[   46.866069][ T6479] UBSAN: array-index-out-of-bounds in
drivers/isdn/capi/kcapi.c:483:21
[   46.867196][ T6479] index -1 is out of range for type 'capi_ctr *[32]'
[   46.867982][ T6479] CPU: 1 PID: 6479 Comm: kcmtpd_ctr_0 Not tainted
5.15.0-rc2+ #8
[   46.869002][ T6479] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX,
1996), BIOS 1.14.0-2 04/01/2014
[   46.870107][ T6479] Call Trace:
[   46.870473][ T6479]  dump_stack_lvl+0x57/0x7d
[   46.870974][ T6479]  ubsan_epilogue+0x5/0x40
[   46.871458][ T6479]  __ubsan_handle_out_of_bounds.cold+0x43/0x48
[   46.872135][ T6479]  detach_capi_ctr+0x64/0xc0
[   46.872639][ T6479]  cmtp_session+0x5c8/0x5d0
[   46.873131][ T6479]  ? __init_waitqueue_head+0x60/0x60
[   46.873712][ T6479]  ? cmtp_add_msgpart+0x120/0x120
[   46.874256][ T6479]  kthread+0x147/0x170
[   46.874709][ T6479]  ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
[   46.875248][ T6479]  ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30
[   46.875773][ T6479]

Weakness: CWE-129 (Improper Validation of Array Index)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-4439?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-4439?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-4439 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-4439 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

- [CVE-2026-53266](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53266/): Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-6282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-6282/): Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-0185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0185/): Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2013-2094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-2094/): Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-53362](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-53362/): Linux Kernel Unspecified (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-4439 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-4439 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 20 Jun 2024. 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-2021-4439 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Linux kernel. 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-2021-4439/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4439/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-4439
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-4439
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-4439

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4439/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.