# CVE-2021-47119: ext4: fix memory leak in ext4_fill_super

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel ext4 filesystem allows attackers to cause denial of service by repeatedly mounting and unmounting volumes.

- **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:** 15 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47119, GHSA-xv6r-2m8v-f893, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47119

## What is CVE-2021-47119?

CVE-2021-47119 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 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:

ext4: fix memory leak in ext4_fill_super

Buffer head references must be released before calling kill_bdev();
otherwise the buffer head (and its page referenced by b_data) will not
be freed by kill_bdev, and subsequently that bh will be leaked.

If blocksizes differ, sb_set_blocksize() will kill current buffers and
page cache by using kill_bdev(). And then super block will be reread
again but using correct blocksize this time. sb_set_blocksize() didn't
fully free superblock page and buffer head, and being busy, they were
not freed and instead leaked.

This can easily be reproduced by calling an infinite loop of:

  systemctl start <ext4_on_lvm>.mount, and
  systemctl stop <ext4_on_lvm>.mount

... since systemd creates a cgroup for each slice which it mounts, and
the bh leak get amplified by a dying memory cgroup that also never
gets freed, and memory consumption is much more easily noticed.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47119?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47119?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47119 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47119 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-2021-47119 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47119 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 15 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-2021-47119 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-2021-47119/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47119/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47119
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47119
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47119

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47119/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.