# CVE-2021-46992: netfilter: nftables: avoid overflows in nft_hash_buckets()

> An integer overflow in the Linux kernel's nftables hash bucket calculation can cause a shift-out-of-bounds error, leading to a denial of service.

- **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:** 28 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46992, GHSA-4hg3-pc9r-pp32, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46992

## What is CVE-2021-46992?

CVE-2021-46992 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 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:

netfilter: nftables: avoid overflows in nft_hash_buckets()

Number of buckets being stored in 32bit variables, we have to
ensure that no overflows occur in nft_hash_buckets()

syzbot injected a size == 0x40000000 and reported:

UBSAN: shift-out-of-bounds in ./include/linux/log2.h:57:13
shift exponent 64 is too large for 64-bit type 'long unsigned int'
CPU: 1 PID: 29539 Comm: syz-executor.4 Not tainted 5.12.0-rc7-syzkaller #0
Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011
Call Trace:
 __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:79 [inline]
 dump_stack+0x141/0x1d7 lib/dump_stack.c:120
 ubsan_epilogue+0xb/0x5a lib/ubsan.c:148
 __ubsan_handle_shift_out_of_bounds.cold+0xb1/0x181 lib/ubsan.c:327
 __roundup_pow_of_two include/linux/log2.h:57 [inline]
 nft_hash_buckets net/netfilter/nft_set_hash.c:411 [inline]
 nft_hash_estimate.cold+0x19/0x1e net/netfilter/nft_set_hash.c:652
 nft_select_set_ops net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:3586 [inline]
 nf_tables_newset+0xe62/0x3110 net/netfilter/nf_tables_api.c:4322
 nfnetlink_rcv_batch+0xa09/0x24b0 net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c:488
 nfnetlink_rcv_skb_batch net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c:612 [inline]
 nfnetlink_rcv+0x3af/0x420 net/netfilter/nfnetlink.c:630
 netlink_unicast_kernel net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1312 [inline]
 netlink_unicast+0x533/0x7d0 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1338
 netlink_sendmsg+0x856/0xd90 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:1927
 sock_sendmsg_nosec net/socket.c:654 [inline]
 sock_sendmsg+0xcf/0x120 net/socket.c:674
 ____sys_sendmsg+0x6e8/0x810 net/socket.c:2350
 ___sys_sendmsg+0xf3/0x170 net/socket.c:2404
 __sys_sendmsg+0xe5/0x1b0 net/socket.c:2433
 do_syscall_64+0x2d/0x70 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-46992?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-46992?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-46992 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-46992 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-2021-46992 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-46992 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 28 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-2021-46992 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-2021-46992/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46992/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-46992
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-46992
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-46992

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-46992/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.