# CVE-2021-47221: mm/slub: actually fix freelist pointer vs redzoning

> A kernel memory corruption issue in SLUB allocator occurs when redzoning is enabled, potentially causing system crashes.

- **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:** 21 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47221, GHSA-3c4w-p6cr-wgq6, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47221

## What is CVE-2021-47221?

CVE-2021-47221 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 May 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:

mm/slub: actually fix freelist pointer vs redzoning

It turns out that SLUB redzoning ("slub_debug=Z") checks from
s->object_size rather than from s->inuse (which is normally bumped to
make room for the freelist pointer), so a cache created with an object
size less than 24 would have the freelist pointer written beyond
s->object_size, causing the redzone to be corrupted by the freelist
pointer.  This was very visible with "slub_debug=ZF":

  BUG test (Tainted: G    B            ): Right Redzone overwritten
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  INFO: 0xffff957ead1c05de-0xffff957ead1c05df @offset=1502. First byte 0x1a instead of 0xbb
  INFO: Slab 0xffffef3950b47000 objects=170 used=170 fp=0x0000000000000000 flags=0x8000000000000200
  INFO: Object 0xffff957ead1c05d8 @offset=1496 fp=0xffff957ead1c0620

  Redzone  (____ptrval____): bb bb bb bb bb bb bb bb               ........
  Object   (____ptrval____): 00 00 00 00 00 f6 f4 a5               ........
  Redzone  (____ptrval____): 40 1d e8 1a aa                        @....
  Padding  (____ptrval____): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00               ........

Adjust the offset to stay within s->object_size.

(Note that no caches of in this size range are known to exist in the
kernel currently.)

Weakness: CWE-763 (Release of Invalid Pointer or Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47221?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47221?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47221 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47221 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-2021-47221 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47221 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 21 May 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-2021-47221 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-2021-47221/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47221/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47221
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47221
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47221

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47221/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.