# CVE-2021-47494: cfg80211: fix management registrations locking

> A race condition in the Linux kernel's cfg80211 subsystem can cause list corruption, potentially leading to a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47494, GHSA-c6p9-mw2r-7mc4, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47494

## What is CVE-2021-47494?

CVE-2021-47494 is a high-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:

cfg80211: fix management registrations locking

The management registrations locking was broken, the list was
locked for each wdev, but cfg80211_mgmt_registrations_update()
iterated it without holding all the correct spinlocks, causing
list corruption.

Rather than trying to fix it with fine-grained locking, just
move the lock to the wiphy/rdev (still need the list on each
wdev), we already need to hold the wdev lock to change it, so
there's no contention on the lock in any case. This trivially
fixes the bug since we hold one wdev's lock already, and now
will hold the lock that protects all lists.

Weakness: CWE-667 (Improper Locking)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47494?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47494?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47494 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47494 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-2021-47494 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47494 is a high-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-2021-47494 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-2021-47494/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47494/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47494
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47494
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47494

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47494/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.