CVE-2021-47272 usb: dwc3: gadget: Bail from dwc3_gadget_exit() if dwc->gadget is NULL

What is CVE-2021-47272?

CVE-2021-47272 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:

usb: dwc3: gadget: Bail from dwc3_gadget_exit() if dwc->gadget is NULL

There exists a possible scenario in which dwc3_gadget_init() can fail: during during host -> peripheral mode switch in dwc3_set_mode(), and a pending gadget driver fails to bind. Then, if the DRD undergoes another mode switch from peripheral->host the resulting dwc3_gadget_exit() will attempt to reference an invalid and dangling dwc->gadget pointer as well as call dma_free_coherent() on unmapped DMA pointers.

The exact scenario can be reproduced as follows: - Start DWC3 in peripheral mode - Configure ConfigFS gadget with FunctionFS instance (or use g_ffs) - Run FunctionFS userspace application (open EPs, write descriptors, etc) - Bind gadget driver to DWC3's UDC - Switch DWC3 to host mode => dwc3_gadget_exit() is called. usb_del_gadget() will put the ConfigFS driver instance on the gadget_driver_pending_list - Stop FunctionFS application (closes the ep files) - Switch DWC3 to peripheral mode => dwc3_gadget_init() fails as usb_add_gadget() calls check_pending_gadget_drivers() and attempts to rebind the UDC to the ConfigFS gadget but fails with -19 (-ENODEV) because the FFS instance is not in FFS_ACTIVE state (userspace has not re-opened and written the descriptors yet, i.e. desc_ready!=0). - Switch DWC3 back to host mode => dwc3_gadget_exit() is called again, but this time dwc->gadget is invalid.

Although it can be argued that userspace should take responsibility for ensuring that the FunctionFS application be ready prior to allowing the composite driver bind to the UDC, failure to do so should not result in a panic from the kernel driver.

Fix this by setting dwc->gadget to NULL in the failure path of dwc3_gadget_init() and add a check to dwc3_gadget_exit() to bail out unless the gadget pointer is valid.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47272?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2021-47272?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2021-47272 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47272 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel

• CVE-2026-53266 Linux Kernel Out-of-Bounds Write Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2013-6282 Linux Kernel Improper Input Validation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2022-0185 Linux Kernel Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2013-2094 Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2026-53362 Linux Kernel Unspecified Exploited High 7.8

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47272, GHSA-jpfh-4v99-5m27, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47272.