CVE-2021-47438 net/mlx5e: Fix memory leak in mlx5_core_destroy_cq() error path

High 7.1 Published Updated

A memory leak in the Linux kernel's mlx5 network driver allows attackers to cause a denial of service by exhausting system memory.

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

What is CVE-2021-47438?

CVE-2021-47438 is a high-severity memory corruption 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:

net/mlx5e: Fix memory leak in mlx5_core_destroy_cq() error path

Prior to this patch in case mlx5_core_destroy_cq() failed it returns without completing all destroy operations and that leads to memory leak. Instead, complete the destroy flow before return error.

Also move mlx5_debug_cq_remove() to the beginning of mlx5_core_destroy_cq() to be symmetrical with mlx5_core_create_cq().

kmemleak complains on:

unreferenced object 0xc000000038625100 (size 64): comm "ethtool", pid 28301, jiffies 4298062946 (age 785.380s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 60 01 48 94 00 00 00 c0 b8 05 34 c3 00 00 00 c0 `.H.......4..... 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 db 7d c1 00 00 00 c0 ..........}..... backtrace: [<000000009e8643cb>] add_res_tree+0xd0/0x270 [mlx5_core] [<00000000e7cb8e6c>] mlx5_debug_cq_add+0x5c/0xc0 [mlx5_core] [<000000002a12918f>] mlx5_core_create_cq+0x1d0/0x2d0 [mlx5_core] [<00000000cef0a696>] mlx5e_create_cq+0x210/0x3f0 [mlx5_core] [<000000009c642c26>] mlx5e_open_cq+0xb4/0x130 [mlx5_core] [<0000000058dfa578>] mlx5e_ptp_open+0x7f4/0xe10 [mlx5_core] [<0000000081839561>] mlx5e_open_channels+0x9cc/0x13e0 [mlx5_core] [<0000000009cf05d4>] mlx5e_switch_priv_channels+0xa4/0x230 [mlx5_core] [<0000000042bbedd8>] mlx5e_safe_switch_params+0x14c/0x300 [mlx5_core] [<0000000004bc9db8>] set_pflag_tx_port_ts+0x9c/0x160 [mlx5_core] [<00000000a0553443>] mlx5e_set_priv_flags+0xd0/0x1b0 [mlx5_core] [<00000000a8f3d84b>] ethnl_set_privflags+0x234/0x2d0 [<00000000fd27f27c>] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit+0x108/0x1d0 [<00000000f495e2bb>] genl_family_rcv_msg+0xe4/0x1f0 [<00000000646c5c2c>] genl_rcv_msg+0x78/0x120 [<00000000d53e384e>] netlink_rcv_skb+0x74/0x1a0

Weakness: CWE-401

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47438?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Linux kernel.

How do I fix CVE-2021-47438?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade to the fixed version. Memory-safe languages, compiler hardening and fuzzing prevent most new cases. More about Memory corruption.

Is CVE-2021-47438 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47438 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Linux kernel vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47438, GHSA-24vw-fq64-647q, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47438.

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