# CVE-2021-47069: ipc/mqueue, msg, sem: avoid relying on a stack reference past its expiry

> A race condition in Linux kernel IPC allows a local attacker to trigger a system crash by exploiting a use-after-free scenario in message queue operations.

- **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:** 1 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47069, GHSA-47fv-c4cg-c767, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47069

## What is CVE-2021-47069?

CVE-2021-47069 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Mar 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:

ipc/mqueue, msg, sem: avoid relying on a stack reference past its expiry

do_mq_timedreceive calls wq_sleep with a stack local address.  The
sender (do_mq_timedsend) uses this address to later call pipelined_send.

This leads to a very hard to trigger race where a do_mq_timedreceive
call might return and leave do_mq_timedsend to rely on an invalid
address, causing the following crash:

  RIP: 0010:wake_q_add_safe+0x13/0x60
  Call Trace:
   __x64_sys_mq_timedsend+0x2a9/0x490
   do_syscall_64+0x80/0x680
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9
  RIP: 0033:0x7f5928e40343

The race occurs as:

1. do_mq_timedreceive calls wq_sleep with the address of `struct
   ext_wait_queue` on function stack (aliased as `ewq_addr` here) - it
   holds a valid `struct ext_wait_queue *` as long as the stack has not
   been overwritten.

2. `ewq_addr` gets added to info->e_wait_q[RECV].list in wq_add, and
   do_mq_timedsend receives it via wq_get_first_waiter(info, RECV) to call
   __pipelined_op.

3. Sender calls __pipelined_op::smp_store_release(&this->state,
   STATE_READY).  Here is where the race window begins.  (`this` is
   `ewq_addr`.)

4. If the receiver wakes up now in do_mq_timedreceive::wq_sleep, it
   will see `state == STATE_READY` and break.

5. do_mq_timedreceive returns, and `ewq_addr` is no longer guaranteed
   to be a `struct ext_wait_queue *` since it was on do_mq_timedreceive's
   stack.  (Although the address may not get overwritten until another
   function happens to touch it, which means it can persist around for an
   indefinite time.)

6. do_mq_timedsend::__pipelined_op() still believes `ewq_addr` is a
   `struct ext_wait_queue *`, and uses it to find a task_struct to pass to
   the wake_q_add_safe call.  In the lucky case where nothing has
   overwritten `ewq_addr` yet, `ewq_addr->task` is the right task_struct.
   In the unlucky case, __pipelined_op::wake_q_add_safe gets handed a
   bogus address as the receiver's task_struct causing the crash.

do_mq_timedsend::__pipelined_op() should not dereference `this` after
setting STATE_READY, as the receiver counterpart is now free to return.
Change __pipelined_op to call wake_q_add_safe on the receiver's
task_struct returned by get_task_struct, instead of dereferencing `this`
which sits on the receiver's stack.

As Manfred pointed out, the race potentially also exists in
ipc/msg.c::expunge_all and ipc/sem.c::wake_up_sem_queue_prepare.  Fix
those in the same way.

Weakness: CWE-672 (Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47069?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47069?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47069 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47069 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-2021-47069 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47069 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 1 Mar 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-2021-47069 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-2021-47069/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47069/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47069
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47069
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47069

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47069/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.