# CVE-2021-46939: tracing: Restructure trace_clock_global() to never block

> A deadlock in the Linux kernel tracing subsystem can cause a system hang during suspend/resume operations, leading to denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 27 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46939, GHSA-8h6j-vxpr-4ff5, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46939

## What is CVE-2021-46939?

CVE-2021-46939 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 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:

tracing: Restructure trace_clock_global() to never block

It was reported that a fix to the ring buffer recursion detection would
cause a hung machine when performing suspend / resume testing. The
following backtrace was extracted from debugging that case:

Call Trace:
 trace_clock_global+0x91/0xa0
 __rb_reserve_next+0x237/0x460
 ring_buffer_lock_reserve+0x12a/0x3f0
 trace_buffer_lock_reserve+0x10/0x50
 __trace_graph_return+0x1f/0x80
 trace_graph_return+0xb7/0xf0
 ? trace_clock_global+0x91/0xa0
 ftrace_return_to_handler+0x8b/0xf0
 ? pv_hash+0xa0/0xa0
 return_to_handler+0x15/0x30
 ? ftrace_graph_caller+0xa0/0xa0
 ? trace_clock_global+0x91/0xa0
 ? __rb_reserve_next+0x237/0x460
 ? ring_buffer_lock_reserve+0x12a/0x3f0
 ? trace_event_buffer_lock_reserve+0x3c/0x120
 ? trace_event_buffer_reserve+0x6b/0xc0
 ? trace_event_raw_event_device_pm_callback_start+0x125/0x2d0
 ? dpm_run_callback+0x3b/0xc0
 ? pm_ops_is_empty+0x50/0x50
 ? platform_get_irq_byname_optional+0x90/0x90
 ? trace_device_pm_callback_start+0x82/0xd0
 ? dpm_run_callback+0x49/0xc0

With the following RIP:

RIP: 0010:native_queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x69/0x200

Since the fix to the recursion detection would allow a single recursion to
happen while tracing, this lead to the trace_clock_global() taking a spin
lock and then trying to take it again:

ring_buffer_lock_reserve() {
  trace_clock_global() {
    arch_spin_lock() {
      queued_spin_lock_slowpath() {
        /* lock taken */
        (something else gets traced by function graph tracer)
          ring_buffer_lock_reserve() {
            trace_clock_global() {
              arch_spin_lock() {
                queued_spin_lock_slowpath() {
                /* DEAD LOCK! */

Tracing should *never* block, as it can lead to strange lockups like the
above.

Restructure the trace_clock_global() code to instead of simply taking a
lock to update the recorded "prev_time" simply use it, as two events
happening on two different CPUs that calls this at the same time, really
doesn't matter which one goes first. Use a trylock to grab the lock for
updating the prev_time, and if it fails, simply try again the next time.
If it failed to be taken, that means something else is already updating
it.

Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=212761

Weakness: CWE-662 (Improper Synchronization), CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-46939?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-46939?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-46939 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-46939 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-2021-46939 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-46939 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 27 Feb 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-2021-46939 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-2021-46939/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46939/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-46939
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-46939
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-46939

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46939/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.