# CVE-2021-47223: net: bridge: fix vlan tunnel dst null pointer dereference

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel bridge VLAN tunnel egress path allows attackers to cause a denial of service.

- **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-2021-47223, GHSA-8q2m-46mc-pjw4, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47223

## What is CVE-2021-47223?

CVE-2021-47223 is a medium-severity 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:

net: bridge: fix vlan tunnel dst null pointer dereference

This patch fixes a tunnel_dst null pointer dereference due to lockless
access in the tunnel egress path. When deleting a vlan tunnel the
tunnel_dst pointer is set to NULL without waiting a grace period (i.e.
while it's still usable) and packets egressing are dereferencing it
without checking. Use READ/WRITE_ONCE to annotate the lockless use of
tunnel_id, use RCU for accessing tunnel_dst and make sure it is read
only once and checked in the egress path. The dst is already properly RCU
protected so we don't need to do anything fancy than to make sure
tunnel_id and tunnel_dst are read only once and checked in the egress path.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47223?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47223?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47223 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47223 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-2021-47223 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47223 is a medium-severity 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-2021-47223 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-2021-47223/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47223/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47223
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47223
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47223

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47223/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.