CVE-2021-47338 fbmem: Do not delete the mode that is still in use

What is CVE-2021-47338?

CVE-2021-47338 is a high-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:

fbmem: Do not delete the mode that is still in use

The execution of fb_delete_videomode() is not based on the result of the previous fbcon_mode_deleted(). As a result, the mode is directly deleted, regardless of whether it is still in use, which may cause UAF.

================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in fb_mode_is_equal+0x36e/0x5e0 \ drivers/video/fbdev/core/modedb.c:924 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88807e0ddb1c by task syz-executor.0/18962

CPU: 2 PID: 18962 Comm: syz-executor.0 Not tainted 5.10.45-rc1+ #3 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS ... Call Trace: __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:77 [inline] dump_stack+0x137/0x1be lib/dump_stack.c:118 print_address_description+0x6c/0x640 mm/kasan/report.c:385 __kasan_report mm/kasan/report.c:545 [inline] kasan_report+0x13d/0x1e0 mm/kasan/report.c:562 fb_mode_is_equal+0x36e/0x5e0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/modedb.c:924 fbcon_mode_deleted+0x16a/0x220 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbcon.c:2746 fb_set_var+0x1e1/0xdb0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:975 do_fb_ioctl+0x4d9/0x6e0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1108 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:48 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:753 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xfb/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:739 do_syscall_64+0x2d/0x70 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9

Freed by task 18960: kasan_save_stack mm/kasan/common.c:48 [inline] kasan_set_track+0x3d/0x70 mm/kasan/common.c:56 kasan_set_free_info+0x17/0x30 mm/kasan/generic.c:355 __kasan_slab_free+0x108/0x140 mm/kasan/common.c:422 slab_free_hook mm/slub.c:1541 [inline] slab_free_freelist_hook+0xd6/0x1a0 mm/slub.c:1574 slab_free mm/slub.c:3139 [inline] kfree+0xca/0x3d0 mm/slub.c:4121 fb_delete_videomode+0x56a/0x820 drivers/video/fbdev/core/modedb.c:1104 fb_set_var+0x1f3/0xdb0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:978 do_fb_ioctl+0x4d9/0x6e0 drivers/video/fbdev/core/fbmem.c:1108 vfs_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:48 [inline] __do_sys_ioctl fs/ioctl.c:753 [inline] __se_sys_ioctl+0xfb/0x170 fs/ioctl.c:739 do_syscall_64+0x2d/0x70 arch/x86/entry/common.c:46 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9

Weakness: CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47338?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2021-47338?

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-2021-47338 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47338 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-2021-47338, GHSA-m2r9-3c4r-qv68, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47338.