# CVE-2021-47274: tracing: Correct the length check which causes memory corruption

> A length check error in the Linux kernel tracing subsystem allows out-of-bounds writes, leading to memory corruption and potential system crashes or code execution.

- **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:** 21 May 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47274, GHSA-px85-vjfw-cm92, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47274

## What is CVE-2021-47274?

CVE-2021-47274 is a high-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:

tracing: Correct the length check which causes memory corruption

We've suffered from severe kernel crashes due to memory corruption on
our production environment, like,

Call Trace:
[1640542.554277] general protection fault: 0000 [#1] SMP PTI
[1640542.554856] CPU: 17 PID: 26996 Comm: python Kdump: loaded Tainted:G
[1640542.556629] RIP: 0010:kmem_cache_alloc+0x90/0x190
[1640542.559074] RSP: 0018:ffffb16faa597df8 EFLAGS: 00010286
[1640542.559587] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000400200 RCX:
0000000006e931bf
[1640542.560323] RDX: 0000000006e931be RSI: 0000000000400200 RDI:
ffff9a45ff004300
[1640542.560996] RBP: 0000000000400200 R08: 0000000000023420 R09:
0000000000000000
[1640542.561670] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12:
ffffffff9a20608d
[1640542.562366] R13: ffff9a45ff004300 R14: ffff9a45ff004300 R15:
696c662f65636976
[1640542.563128] FS:  00007f45d7c6f740(0000) GS:ffff9a45ff840000(0000)
knlGS:0000000000000000
[1640542.563937] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[1640542.564557] CR2: 00007f45d71311a0 CR3: 000000189d63e004 CR4:
00000000003606e0
[1640542.565279] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2:
0000000000000000
[1640542.566069] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7:
0000000000000400
[1640542.566742] Call Trace:
[1640542.567009]  anon_vma_clone+0x5d/0x170
[1640542.567417]  __split_vma+0x91/0x1a0
[1640542.567777]  do_munmap+0x2c6/0x320
[1640542.568128]  vm_munmap+0x54/0x70
[1640542.569990]  __x64_sys_munmap+0x22/0x30
[1640542.572005]  do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x1b0
[1640542.573724]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9
[1640542.575642] RIP: 0033:0x7f45d6e61e27

James Wang has reproduced it stably on the latest 4.19 LTS.
After some debugging, we finally proved that it's due to ftrace
buffer out-of-bound access using a debug tool as follows:
[   86.775200] BUG: Out-of-bounds write at addr 0xffff88aefe8b7000
[   86.780806]  no_context+0xdf/0x3c0
[   86.784327]  __do_page_fault+0x252/0x470
[   86.788367]  do_page_fault+0x32/0x140
[   86.792145]  page_fault+0x1e/0x30
[   86.795576]  strncpy_from_unsafe+0x66/0xb0
[   86.799789]  fetch_memory_string+0x25/0x40
[   86.804002]  fetch_deref_string+0x51/0x60
[   86.808134]  kprobe_trace_func+0x32d/0x3a0
[   86.812347]  kprobe_dispatcher+0x45/0x50
[   86.816385]  kprobe_ftrace_handler+0x90/0xf0
[   86.820779]  ftrace_ops_assist_func+0xa1/0x140
[   86.825340]  0xffffffffc00750bf
[   86.828603]  do_sys_open+0x5/0x1f0
[   86.832124]  do_syscall_64+0x5b/0x1b0
[   86.835900]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9

commit b220c049d519 ("tracing: Check length before giving out
the filter buffer") adds length check to protect trace data
overflow introduced in 0fc1b09ff1ff, seems that this fix can't prevent
overflow entirely, the length check should also take the sizeof
entry->array[0] into account, since this array[0] is filled the
length of trace data and occupy addtional space and risk overflow.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47274?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47274?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47274 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47274 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-2021-47274 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47274 is a high-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-2021-47274 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-2021-47274/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47274/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47274
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47274
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47274

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47274/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.