# CVE-2021-47369: s390/qeth: fix NULL deref in qeth_clear_working_pool_list()

> A NULL pointer dereference in the s390/qeth driver causes a kernel crash when setting a device online under specific error conditions.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** 23 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47369, GHSA-hq29-fr4v-2847, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47369

## What is CVE-2021-47369?

CVE-2021-47369 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:

s390/qeth: fix NULL deref in qeth_clear_working_pool_list()

When qeth_set_online() calls qeth_clear_working_pool_list() to roll
back after an error exit from qeth_hardsetup_card(), we are at risk of
accessing card->qdio.in_q before it was allocated by
qeth_alloc_qdio_queues() via qeth_mpc_initialize().

qeth_clear_working_pool_list() then dereferences NULL, and by writing to
queue->bufs[i].pool_entry scribbles all over the CPU's lowcore.
Resulting in a crash when those lowcore areas are used next (eg. on
the next machine-check interrupt).

Such a scenario would typically happen when the device is first set
online and its queues aren't allocated yet. An early IO error or certain
misconfigs (eg. mismatched transport mode, bad portno) then cause us to
error out from qeth_hardsetup_card() with card->qdio.in_q still being
NULL.

Fix it by checking the pointer for NULL before accessing it.

Note that we also have (rare) paths inside qeth_mpc_initialize() where
a configuration change can cause us to free the existing queues,
expecting that subsequent code will allocate them again. If we then
error out before that re-allocation happens, the same bug occurs.

Root-caused-by: Heiko Carstens <hca@linux.ibm.com>

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47369?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47369?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47369 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47369 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-2021-47369 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47369 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47369 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-2021-47369/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47369/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47369
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47369
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47369

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47369/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.