# CVE-2021-47527: serial: core: fix transmit-buffer reset and memleak

> A memory leak and buffer reset issue in the Linux kernel serial core can cause indefinite hangs or stale data transmission, requiring a kernel patch.

- **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:** 24 May 2024
- **Updated:** 11 May 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47527, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47527

## What is CVE-2021-47527?

CVE-2021-47527 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 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:

serial: core: fix transmit-buffer reset and memleak

Commit 761ed4a94582 ("tty: serial_core: convert uart_close to use
tty_port_close") converted serial core to use tty_port_close() but
failed to notice that the transmit buffer still needs to be freed on
final close.

Not freeing the transmit buffer means that the buffer is no longer
cleared on next open so that any ioctl() waiting for the buffer to drain
might wait indefinitely (e.g. on termios changes) or that stale data can
end up being transmitted in case tx is restarted.

Furthermore, the buffer of any port that has been opened would leak on
driver unbind.

Note that the port lock is held when clearing the buffer pointer due to
the ldisc race worked around by commit a5ba1d95e46e ("uart: fix race
between uart_put_char() and uart_shutdown()").

Also note that the tty-port shutdown() callback is not called for
console ports so it is not strictly necessary to free the buffer page
after releasing the lock (cf. d72402145ace ("tty/serial: do not free
trasnmit buffer page under port lock")).

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47527?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47527?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47527 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47527 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-2021-47527 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47527 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 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-2021-47527 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-2021-47527/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47527/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47527
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47527
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47527

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47527/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.