# CVE-2021-47435: dm: fix mempool NULL pointer race when completing IO

> A race condition in the Linux kernel device mapper can cause a NULL pointer dereference and system crash during IO completion.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** 22 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47435, GHSA-3c5v-hp3x-r94q, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47435

## What is CVE-2021-47435?

CVE-2021-47435 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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:

dm: fix mempool NULL pointer race when completing IO

dm_io_dec_pending() calls end_io_acct() first and will then dec md
in-flight pending count. But if a task is swapping DM table at same
time this can result in a crash due to mempool->elements being NULL:

task1                             task2
do_resume
 ->do_suspend
  ->dm_wait_for_completion
                                  bio_endio
				   ->clone_endio
				    ->dm_io_dec_pending
				     ->end_io_acct
				      ->wakeup task1
 ->dm_swap_table
  ->__bind
   ->__bind_mempools
    ->bioset_exit
     ->mempool_exit
                                     ->free_io

[ 67.330330] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at
virtual address 0000000000000000
......
[ 67.330494] pstate: 80400085 (Nzcv daIf +PAN -UAO)
[ 67.330510] pc : mempool_free+0x70/0xa0
[ 67.330515] lr : mempool_free+0x4c/0xa0
[ 67.330520] sp : ffffff8008013b20
[ 67.330524] x29: ffffff8008013b20 x28: 0000000000000004
[ 67.330530] x27: ffffffa8c2ff40a0 x26: 00000000ffff1cc8
[ 67.330535] x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffffffdada34c800
[ 67.330541] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffffffdada34c800
[ 67.330547] x21: 00000000ffff1cc8 x20: ffffffd9a1304d80
[ 67.330552] x19: ffffffdada34c970 x18: 000000b312625d9c
[ 67.330558] x17: 00000000002dcfbf x16: 00000000000006dd
[ 67.330563] x15: 000000000093b41e x14: 0000000000000010
[ 67.330569] x13: 0000000000007f7a x12: 0000000034155555
[ 67.330574] x11: 0000000000000001 x10: 0000000000000001
[ 67.330579] x9 : 0000000000000000 x8 : 0000000000000000
[ 67.330585] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : ffffff80148b5c1a
[ 67.330590] x5 : ffffff8008013ae0 x4 : 0000000000000001
[ 67.330596] x3 : ffffff80080139c8 x2 : ffffff801083bab8
[ 67.330601] x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffffffdada34c970
[ 67.330609] Call trace:
[ 67.330616] mempool_free+0x70/0xa0
[ 67.330627] bio_put+0xf8/0x110
[ 67.330638] dec_pending+0x13c/0x230
[ 67.330644] clone_endio+0x90/0x180
[ 67.330649] bio_endio+0x198/0x1b8
[ 67.330655] dec_pending+0x190/0x230
[ 67.330660] clone_endio+0x90/0x180
[ 67.330665] bio_endio+0x198/0x1b8
[ 67.330673] blk_update_request+0x214/0x428
[ 67.330683] scsi_end_request+0x2c/0x300
[ 67.330688] scsi_io_completion+0xa0/0x710
[ 67.330695] scsi_finish_command+0xd8/0x110
[ 67.330700] scsi_softirq_done+0x114/0x148
[ 67.330708] blk_done_softirq+0x74/0xd0
[ 67.330716] __do_softirq+0x18c/0x374
[ 67.330724] irq_exit+0xb4/0xb8
[ 67.330732] __handle_domain_irq+0x84/0xc0
[ 67.330737] gic_handle_irq+0x148/0x1b0
[ 67.330744] el1_irq+0xe8/0x190
[ 67.330753] lpm_cpuidle_enter+0x4f8/0x538
[ 67.330759] cpuidle_enter_state+0x1fc/0x398
[ 67.330764] cpuidle_enter+0x18/0x20
[ 67.330772] do_idle+0x1b4/0x290
[ 67.330778] cpu_startup_entry+0x20/0x28
[ 67.330786] secondary_start_kernel+0x160/0x170

Fix this by:
1) Establishing pointers to 'struct dm_io' members in
dm_io_dec_pending() so that they may be passed into end_io_acct()
_after_ free_io() is called.
2) Moving end_io_acct() after free_io().

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47435?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47435?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47435 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47435 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-2021-47435 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47435 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 22 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-2021-47435 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-2021-47435/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47435/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47435
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47435
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47435

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47435/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.