CVE-2021-47299 xdp, net: Fix use-after-free in bpf_xdp_link_release

What is CVE-2021-47299?

CVE-2021-47299 is a medium-severity use after free 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:

xdp, net: Fix use-after-free in bpf_xdp_link_release

The problem occurs between dev_get_by_index() and dev_xdp_attach_link(). At this point, dev_xdp_uninstall() is called. Then xdp link will not be detached automatically when dev is released. But link->dev already points to dev, when xdp link is released, dev will still be accessed, but dev has been released.

dev_get_by_index() | link->dev = dev | | rtnl_lock() | unregister_netdevice_many() | dev_xdp_uninstall() | rtnl_unlock() rtnl_lock(); | dev_xdp_attach_link() | rtnl_unlock(); | | netdev_run_todo() // dev released bpf_xdp_link_release() | /* access dev. | use-after-free */ |

[ 45.966867] BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in bpf_xdp_link_release+0x3b8/0x3d0 [ 45.967619] Read of size 8 at addr ffff00000f9980c8 by task a.out/732 [ 45.968297] [ 45.968502] CPU: 1 PID: 732 Comm: a.out Not tainted 5.13.0+ #22 [ 45.969222] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 45.969795] Call trace: [ 45.970106] dump_backtrace+0x0/0x4c8 [ 45.970564] show_stack+0x30/0x40 [ 45.970981] dump_stack_lvl+0x120/0x18c [ 45.971470] print_address_description.constprop.0+0x74/0x30c [ 45.972182] kasan_report+0x1e8/0x200 [ 45.972659] __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x2c/0x50 [ 45.973273] bpf_xdp_link_release+0x3b8/0x3d0 [ 45.973834] bpf_link_free+0xd0/0x188 [ 45.974315] bpf_link_put+0x1d0/0x218 [ 45.974790] bpf_link_release+0x3c/0x58 [ 45.975291] __fput+0x20c/0x7e8 [ 45.975706] ____fput+0x24/0x30 [ 45.976117] task_work_run+0x104/0x258 [ 45.976609] do_notify_resume+0x894/0xaf8 [ 45.977121] work_pending+0xc/0x328 [ 45.977575] [ 45.977775] The buggy address belongs to the page: [ 45.978369] page:fffffc00003e6600 refcount:0 mapcount:0 mapping:0000000000000000 index:0x0 pfn:0x4f998 [ 45.979522] flags: 0x7fffe0000000000(node=0|zone=0|lastcpupid=0x3ffff) [ 45.980349] raw: 07fffe0000000000 fffffc00003e6708 ffff0000dac3c010 0000000000000000 [ 45.981309] raw: 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 00000000ffffffff 0000000000000000 [ 45.982259] page dumped because: kasan: bad access detected [ 45.982948] [ 45.983153] Memory state around the buggy address: [ 45.983753] ffff00000f997f80: fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc fc [ 45.984645] ffff00000f998000: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff [ 45.985533] >ffff00000f998080: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff [ 45.986419] ^ [ 45.987112] ffff00000f998100: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff [ 45.988006] ffff00000f998180: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff [ 45.988895] ================================================================== [ 45.989773] Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint [ 45.990552] Kernel panic - not syncing: panic_on_warn set ... [ 45.991166] CPU: 1 PID: 732 Comm: a.out Tainted: G B 5.13.0+ #22 [ 45.991929] Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT) [ 45.992448] Call trace: [ 45.992753] dump_backtrace+0x0/0x4c8 [ 45.993208] show_stack+0x30/0x40 [ 45.993627] dump_stack_lvl+0x120/0x18c [ 45.994113] dump_stack+0x1c/0x34 [ 45.994530] panic+0x3a4/0x7d8 [ 45.994930] end_report+0x194/0x198 [ 45.995380] kasan_report+0x134/0x200 [ 45.995850] __asan_report_load8_noabort+0x2c/0x50 [ 45.996453] bpf_xdp_link_release+0x3b8/0x3d0 [ 45.997007] bpf_link_free+0xd0/0x188 [ 45.997474] bpf_link_put+0x1d0/0x218 [ 45.997942] bpf_link_release+0x3c/0x58 [ 45.998429] __fput+0x20c/0x7e8 [ 45.998833] ____fput+0x24/0x30 [ 45.999247] task_work_run+0x104/0x258 [ 45.999731] do_notify_resume+0x894/0xaf8 [ 46.000236] work_pending ---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47299?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2021-47299?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2021-47299 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47299 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-2021-47299, GHSA-8fm5-v3c4-vrmq, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47299.