# CVE-2021-46951: tpm: efi: Use local variable for calculating final log size

> An integer underflow in the Linux kernel TPM EFI log calculation can cause a kernel crash when the driver is repeatedly loaded and unloaded.

- **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-2021-46951, GHSA-c9vq-9q39-5j32, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46951

## What is CVE-2021-46951?

CVE-2021-46951 is a medium-severity 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:

tpm: efi: Use local variable for calculating final log size

When tpm_read_log_efi is called multiple times, which happens when
one loads and unloads a TPM2 driver multiple times, then the global
variable efi_tpm_final_log_size will at some point become a negative
number due to the subtraction of final_events_preboot_size occurring
each time. Use a local variable to avoid this integer underflow.

The following issue is now resolved:

Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: Workqueue: tpm-vtpm vtpm_proxy_work [tpm_vtpm_proxy]
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: RIP: 0010:__memcpy+0x12/0x20
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: Code: 00 b8 01 00 00 00 85 d2 74 0a c7 05 44 7b ef 00 0f 00 00 00 c3 cc cc cc 66 66 90 66 90 48 89 f8 48 89 d1 48 c1 e9 03 83 e2 07 <f3> 48 a5 89 d1 f3 a4 c3 66 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 89 f8 48 89 d1 f3 a4
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: RSP: 0018:ffff9ac4c0fcfde0 EFLAGS: 00010206
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: RAX: ffff88f878cefed5 RBX: ffff88f878ce9000 RCX: 1ffffffffffffe0f
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: RDX: 0000000000000003 RSI: ffff9ac4c003bff9 RDI: ffff88f878cf0e4d
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: RBP: ffff9ac4c003b000 R08: 0000000000001000 R09: 000000007e9d6073
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: R10: ffff9ac4c003b000 R11: ffff88f879ad3500 R12: 0000000000000ed5
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: R13: ffff88f878ce9760 R14: 0000000000000002 R15: ffff88f77de7f018
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88f87bd00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: CR2: ffff9ac4c003c000 CR3: 00000001785a6004 CR4: 0000000000060ee0
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: Call Trace:
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: tpm_read_log_efi+0x152/0x1a7
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: tpm_bios_log_setup+0xc8/0x1c0
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: tpm_chip_register+0x8f/0x260
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: vtpm_proxy_work+0x16/0x60 [tpm_vtpm_proxy]
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: process_one_work+0x1b4/0x370
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: worker_thread+0x53/0x3e0
Mar  8 15:35:12 hibinst kernel: ? process_one_work+0x370/0x370

Weakness: CWE-191 (Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound))

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-46951?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-46951?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-46951 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-46951 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-2021-46951 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-46951 is a medium-severity 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-2021-46951 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-2021-46951/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46951/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-46951
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-46951
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-46951

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46951/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.