# CVE-2021-47413: usb: chipidea: ci_hdrc_imx: Also search for 'phys' phandle

> A NULL pointer dereference in the Linux kernel i.MX USB driver causes a system crash when specific device tree configurations are used.

- **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:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47413, GHSA-qj4q-cgq8-w2m4, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47413

## What is CVE-2021-47413?

CVE-2021-47413 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:

usb: chipidea: ci_hdrc_imx: Also search for 'phys' phandle

When passing 'phys' in the devicetree to describe the USB PHY phandle
(which is the recommended way according to
Documentation/devicetree/bindings/usb/ci-hdrc-usb2.txt) the
following NULL pointer dereference is observed on i.MX7 and i.MX8MM:

[    1.489344] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000098
[    1.498170] Mem abort info:
[    1.500966]   ESR = 0x96000044
[    1.504030]   EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits
[    1.509356]   SET = 0, FnV = 0
[    1.512416]   EA = 0, S1PTW = 0
[    1.515569]   FSC = 0x04: level 0 translation fault
[    1.520458] Data abort info:
[    1.523349]   ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000044
[    1.527196]   CM = 0, WnR = 1
[    1.530176] [0000000000000098] user address but active_mm is swapper
[    1.536544] Internal error: Oops: 96000044 [#1] PREEMPT SMP
[    1.542125] Modules linked in:
[    1.545190] CPU: 3 PID: 7 Comm: kworker/u8:0 Not tainted 5.14.0-dirty #3
[    1.551901] Hardware name: Kontron i.MX8MM N801X S (DT)
[    1.557133] Workqueue: events_unbound deferred_probe_work_func
[    1.562984] pstate: 80000005 (Nzcv daif -PAN -UAO -TCO BTYPE=--)
[    1.568998] pc : imx7d_charger_detection+0x3f0/0x510
[    1.573973] lr : imx7d_charger_detection+0x22c/0x510

This happens because the charger functions check for the phy presence
inside the imx_usbmisc_data structure (data->usb_phy), but the chipidea
core populates the usb_phy passed via 'phys' inside 'struct ci_hdrc'
(ci->usb_phy) instead.

This causes the NULL pointer dereference inside imx7d_charger_detection().

Fix it by also searching for 'phys' in case 'fsl,usbphy' is not found.

Tested on a imx7s-warp board.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47413?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47413?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47413 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47413 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-2021-47413 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47413 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-2021-47413 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-2021-47413/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47413/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47413
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47413
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47413

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47413/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.