# CVE-2021-47536: net/smc: fix wrong list_del in smc_lgr_cleanup_early

> A bug in the Linux kernel's SMC module causes memory corruption and system crashes due to incorrect list deletion during cleanup.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 May 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47536, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47536

## What is CVE-2021-47536?

CVE-2021-47536 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 May 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net/smc: fix wrong list_del in smc_lgr_cleanup_early

smc_lgr_cleanup_early() meant to delete the link
group from the link group list, but it deleted
the list head by mistake.

This may cause memory corruption since we didn't
remove the real link group from the list and later
memseted the link group structure.
We got a list corruption panic when testing:

[  231.277259] list_del corruption. prev->next should be ffff8881398a8000, but was 0000000000000000
[  231.278222] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[  231.278726] kernel BUG at lib/list_debug.c:53!
[  231.279326] invalid opcode: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI
[  231.279803] CPU: 0 PID: 5 Comm: kworker/0:0 Not tainted 5.10.46+ #435
[  231.280466] Hardware name: Alibaba Cloud ECS, BIOS 8c24b4c 04/01/2014
[  231.281248] Workqueue: events smc_link_down_work
[  231.281732] RIP: 0010:__list_del_entry_valid+0x70/0x90
[  231.282258] Code: 4c 60 82 e8 7d cc 6a 00 0f 0b 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 88 4c
60 82 e8 6c cc 6a 00 0f 0b 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 c0 4c 60 82 e8 5b cc 6a 00 <0f>
0b 48 89 fe 48 c7 c7 00 4d 60 82 e8 4a cc 6a 00 0f 0b cc cc cc
[  231.284146] RSP: 0018:ffffc90000033d58 EFLAGS: 00010292
[  231.284685] RAX: 0000000000000054 RBX: ffff8881398a8000 RCX: 0000000000000000
[  231.285415] RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: ffff88813bc18040 RDI: ffff88813bc18040
[  231.286141] RBP: ffffffff8305ad40 R08: 0000000000000003 R09: 0000000000000001
[  231.286873] R10: ffffffff82803da0 R11: ffffc90000033b90 R12: 0000000000000001
[  231.287606] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: ffff8881398a8000 R15: 0000000000000003
[  231.288337] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88813bc00000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[  231.289160] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[  231.289754] CR2: 0000000000e72058 CR3: 000000010fa96006 CR4: 00000000003706f0
[  231.290485] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000
[  231.291211] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400
[  231.291940] Call Trace:
[  231.292211]  smc_lgr_terminate_sched+0x53/0xa0
[  231.292677]  smc_switch_conns+0x75/0x6b0
[  231.293085]  ? update_load_avg+0x1a6/0x590
[  231.293517]  ? ttwu_do_wakeup+0x17/0x150
[  231.293907]  ? update_load_avg+0x1a6/0x590
[  231.294317]  ? newidle_balance+0xca/0x3d0
[  231.294716]  smcr_link_down+0x50/0x1a0
[  231.295090]  ? __wake_up_common_lock+0x77/0x90
[  231.295534]  smc_link_down_work+0x46/0x60
[  231.295933]  process_one_work+0x18b/0x350

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47536?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47536?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47536 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47536 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-2021-47536 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47536 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 24 May 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47536 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-2021-47536/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47536/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47536
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47536
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47536

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47536/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.