# CVE-2021-47163: tipc: wait and exit until all work queues are done

> A race condition in the Linux kernel TIPC module allows local attackers to cause a system crash by repeatedly loading and unloading the module.

- **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:** 25 Mar 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47163, GHSA-63cm-3458-95cr, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47163

## What is CVE-2021-47163?

CVE-2021-47163 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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:

tipc: wait and exit until all work queues are done

On some host, a crash could be triggered simply by repeating these
commands several times:

  # modprobe tipc
  # tipc bearer enable media udp name UDP1 localip 127.0.0.1
  # rmmod tipc

  [] BUG: unable to handle kernel paging request at ffffffffc096bb00
  [] Workqueue: events 0xffffffffc096bb00
  [] Call Trace:
  []  ? process_one_work+0x1a7/0x360
  []  ? worker_thread+0x30/0x390
  []  ? create_worker+0x1a0/0x1a0
  []  ? kthread+0x116/0x130
  []  ? kthread_flush_work_fn+0x10/0x10
  []  ? ret_from_fork+0x35/0x40

When removing the TIPC module, the UDP tunnel sock will be delayed to
release in a work queue as sock_release() can't be done in rtnl_lock().
If the work queue is schedule to run after the TIPC module is removed,
kernel will crash as the work queue function cleanup_beareri() code no
longer exists when trying to invoke it.

To fix it, this patch introduce a member wq_count in tipc_net to track
the numbers of work queues in schedule, and  wait and exit until all
work queues are done in tipc_exit_net().

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47163?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47163?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47163 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47163 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-2021-47163 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47163 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 25 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-2021-47163 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-2021-47163/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47163/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47163
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47163
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47163

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47163/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.