# CVE-2021-47416: phy: mdio: fix memory leak

> A memory leak in the Linux kernel MDIO bus interface allows attackers to cause a denial of service through resource exhaustion.

- **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-2021-47416, GHSA-j8cp-h624-v86v, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47416

## What is CVE-2021-47416?

CVE-2021-47416 is a medium-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:

phy: mdio: fix memory leak

Syzbot reported memory leak in MDIO bus interface, the problem was in
wrong state logic.

MDIOBUS_ALLOCATED indicates 2 states:
	1. Bus is only allocated
	2. Bus allocated and __mdiobus_register() fails, but
	   device_register() was called

In case of device_register() has been called we should call put_device()
to correctly free the memory allocated for this device, but mdiobus_free()
calls just kfree(dev) in case of MDIOBUS_ALLOCATED state

To avoid this behaviour we need to set bus->state to MDIOBUS_UNREGISTERED
_before_ calling device_register(), because put_device() should be
called even in case of device_register() failure.

Weakness: CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47416?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47416?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47416 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47416 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-2021-47416 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47416 is a medium-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-2021-47416 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-2021-47416/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47416/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47416
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47416
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47416

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47416/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.