# CVE-2021-47282: spi: bcm2835: Fix out-of-bounds access with more than 4 slaves

> Out-of-bounds memory access in the Linux kernel BCM2835 SPI driver allows attackers with device tree control to cause crashes or execute code.

- **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-2021-47282, GHSA-3wh6-h4gj-wjr7, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47282

## What is CVE-2021-47282?

CVE-2021-47282 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:

spi: bcm2835: Fix out-of-bounds access with more than 4 slaves

Commit 571e31fa60b3 ("spi: bcm2835: Cache CS register value for
->prepare_message()") limited the number of slaves to 3 at compile-time.
The limitation was necessitated by a statically-sized array prepare_cs[]
in the driver private data which contains a per-slave register value.

The commit sought to enforce the limitation at run-time by setting the
controller's num_chipselect to 3:  Slaves with a higher chipselect are
rejected by spi_add_device().

However the commit neglected that num_chipselect only limits the number
of *native* chipselects.  If GPIO chipselects are specified in the
device tree for more than 3 slaves, num_chipselect is silently raised by
of_spi_get_gpio_numbers() and the result are out-of-bounds accesses to
the statically-sized array prepare_cs[].

As a bandaid fix which is backportable to stable, raise the number of
allowed slaves to 24 (which "ought to be enough for anybody"), enforce
the limitation on slave ->setup and revert num_chipselect to 3 (which is
the number of native chipselects supported by the controller).
An upcoming for-next commit will allow an arbitrary number of slaves.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47282?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47282?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47282 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47282 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-2021-47282 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47282 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-2021-47282 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-2021-47282/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47282/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47282
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47282
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47282

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47282/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.