# CVE-2021-47136: net: zero-initialize tc skb extension on allocation
> An attacker can read uninitialized kernel memory via the network stack, potentially exposing sensitive data.
- **Severity:** High 8.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47136, GHSA-7cg4-mp48-cggr, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47136
## What is CVE-2021-47136?
CVE-2021-47136 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
### Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: zero-initialize tc skb extension on allocation
Function skb_ext_add() doesn't initialize created skb extension with any
value and leaves it up to the user. However, since extension of type
TC_SKB_EXT originally contained only single value tc_skb_ext->chain its
users used to just assign the chain value without setting whole extension
memory to zero first. This assumption changed when TC_SKB_EXT extension was
extended with additional fields but not all users were updated to
initialize the new fields which leads to use of uninitialized memory
afterwards. UBSAN log:
[ 778.299821] UBSAN: invalid-load in net/openvswitch/flow.c:899:28
[ 778.301495] load of value 107 is not a valid value for type '_Bool'
[ 778.303215] CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 5.12.0-rc7+ #2
[ 778.304933] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.13.0-0-gf21b5a4aeb02-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014
[ 778.307901] Call Trace:
[ 778.308680]
[ 778.309358] dump_stack+0xbb/0x107
[ 778.310307] ubsan_epilogue+0x5/0x40
[ 778.311167] __ubsan_handle_load_invalid_value.cold+0x43/0x48
[ 778.312454] ? memset+0x20/0x40
[ 778.313230] ovs_flow_key_extract.cold+0xf/0x14 [openvswitch]
[ 778.314532] ovs_vport_receive+0x19e/0x2e0 [openvswitch]
[ 778.315749] ? ovs_vport_find_upcall_portid+0x330/0x330 [openvswitch]
[ 778.317188] ? create_prof_cpu_mask+0x20/0x20
[ 778.318220] ? arch_stack_walk+0x82/0xf0
[ 778.319153] ? secondary_startup_64_no_verify+0xb0/0xbb
[ 778.320399] ? stack_trace_save+0x91/0xc0
[ 778.321362] ? stack_trace_consume_entry+0x160/0x160
[ 778.322517] ? lock_release+0x52e/0x760
[ 778.323444] netdev_frame_hook+0x323/0x610 [openvswitch]
[ 778.324668] ? ovs_netdev_get_vport+0xe0/0xe0 [openvswitch]
[ 778.325950] __netif_receive_skb_core+0x771/0x2db0
[ 778.327067] ? lock_downgrade+0x6e0/0x6f0
[ 778.328021] ? lock_acquire+0x565/0x720
[ 778.328940] ? generic_xdp_tx+0x4f0/0x4f0
[ 778.329902] ? inet_gro_receive+0x2a7/0x10a0
[ 778.330914] ? lock_downgrade+0x6f0/0x6f0
[ 778.331867] ? udp4_gro_receive+0x4c4/0x13e0
[ 778.332876] ? lock_release+0x52e/0x760
[ 778.333808] ? dev_gro_receive+0xcc8/0x2380
[ 778.334810] ? lock_downgrade+0x6f0/0x6f0
[ 778.335769] __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x295/0x820
[ 778.336955] ? process_backlog+0x780/0x780
[ 778.337941] ? mlx5e_rep_tc_netdevice_event_unregister+0x20/0x20 [mlx5_core]
[ 778.339613] ? seqcount_lockdep_reader_access.constprop.0+0xa7/0xc0
[ 778.341033] ? kvm_clock_get_cycles+0x14/0x20
[ 778.342072] netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x5f5/0xcb0
[ 778.343288] ? __kasan_kmalloc+0x7a/0x90
[ 778.344234] ? mlx5e_handle_rx_cqe_mpwrq+0x9e0/0x9e0 [mlx5_core]
[ 778.345676] ? mlx5e_xmit_xdp_frame_mpwqe+0x14d0/0x14d0 [mlx5_core]
[ 778.347140] ? __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x820/0x820
[ 778.348351] ? mlx5e_post_rx_mpwqes+0xa6/0x25d0 [mlx5_core]
[ 778.349688] ? napi_gro_flush+0x26c/0x3c0
[ 778.350641] napi_complete_done+0x188/0x6b0
[ 778.351627] mlx5e_napi_poll+0x373/0x1b80 [mlx5_core]
[ 778.352853] __napi_poll+0x9f/0x510
[ 778.353704] ? mlx5_flow_namespace_set_mode+0x260/0x260 [mlx5_core]
[ 778.355158] net_rx_action+0x34c/0xa40
[ 778.356060] ? napi_threaded_poll+0x3d0/0x3d0
[ 778.357083] ? sched_clock_cpu+0x18/0x190
[ 778.358041] ? __common_interrupt+0x8e/0x1a0
[ 778.359045] __do_softirq+0x1ce/0x984
[ 778.359938] __irq_exit_rcu+0x137/0x1d0
[ 778.360865] irq_exit_rcu+0xa/0x20
[ 778.361708] common_interrupt+0x80/0xa0
[ 778.362640]
[ 778.363212] asm_common_interrupt+0x1e/0x40
[ 778.364204] RIP: 0010:native_safe_halt+0xe/0x10
[ 778.365273] Code: 4f ff ff ff 4c 89 e7 e8 50 3f 40 fe e9 dc fe ff ff 48 89 df e8 43 3f 40 fe eb 90 cc e9 07 00 00 00 0f 00 2d 74 05 62 00 fb f4 90 e9 07 00 00 00 0f 00 2d 64 05 62 00 f4 c3 cc cc 0f 1f 44 00
[ 778.369355] RSP: 0018:ffffffff84407e48 EFLAGS: 00000246
[ 778.370570] RAX
---truncated---
Weakness: CWE-908 (Use of Uninitialized Resource)
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47136?
It affects 1 product.
Products: Linux kernel.
## How do I fix CVE-2021-47136?
Apply the vendor's patch.
## Is CVE-2021-47136 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47136 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-2021-47136 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2021-47136 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 Mar 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47136 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-2021-47136/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47136/index.md)
```
## Sources
- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47136
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47136
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47136
---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47136/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.