# CVE-2021-47552: blk-mq: cancel blk-mq dispatch work in both blk_cleanup_queue and disk_release()

> A null pointer dereference in the Linux kernel block layer can cause a kernel panic, leading to 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:** 24 May 2024
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47552, ROOT-OS-DEBIAN-11-CVE-2021-47552, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-47552

## What is CVE-2021-47552?

CVE-2021-47552 is a high-severity 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:

blk-mq: cancel blk-mq dispatch work in both blk_cleanup_queue and disk_release()

For avoiding to slow down queue destroy, we don't call
blk_mq_quiesce_queue() in blk_cleanup_queue(), instead of delaying to
cancel dispatch work in blk_release_queue().

However, this way has caused kernel oops[1], reported by Changhui. The log
shows that scsi_device can be freed before running blk_release_queue(),
which is expected too since scsi_device is released after the scsi disk
is closed and the scsi_device is removed.

Fixes the issue by canceling blk-mq dispatch work in both blk_cleanup_queue()
and disk_release():

1) when disk_release() is run, the disk has been closed, and any sync
dispatch activities have been done, so canceling dispatch work is enough to
quiesce filesystem I/O dispatch activity.

2) in blk_cleanup_queue(), we only focus on passthrough request, and
passthrough request is always explicitly allocated & freed by
its caller, so once queue is frozen, all sync dispatch activity
for passthrough request has been done, then it is enough to just cancel
dispatch work for avoiding any dispatch activity.

[1] kernel panic log
[12622.769416] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000300
[12622.777186] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
[12622.782918] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page
[12622.788649] PGD 0 P4D 0
[12622.791474] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI
[12622.796138] CPU: 10 PID: 744 Comm: kworker/10:1H Kdump: loaded Not tainted 5.15.0+ #1
[12622.804877] Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R730/0H21J3, BIOS 1.5.4 10/002/2015
[12622.813321] Workqueue: kblockd blk_mq_run_work_fn
[12622.818572] RIP: 0010:sbitmap_get+0x75/0x190
[12622.823336] Code: 85 80 00 00 00 41 8b 57 08 85 d2 0f 84 b1 00 00 00 45 31 e4 48 63 cd 48 8d 1c 49 48 c1 e3 06 49 03 5f 10 4c 8d 6b 40 83 f0 01 <48> 8b 33 44 89 f2 4c 89 ef 0f b6 c8 e8 fa f3 ff ff 83 f8 ff 75 58
[12622.844290] RSP: 0018:ffffb00a446dbd40 EFLAGS: 00010202
[12622.850120] RAX: 0000000000000001 RBX: 0000000000000300 RCX: 0000000000000004
[12622.858082] RDX: 0000000000000006 RSI: 0000000000000082 RDI: ffffa0b7a2dfe030
[12622.866042] RBP: 0000000000000004 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: ffffa0b742721334
[12622.874003] R10: 0000000000000008 R11: 0000000000000008 R12: 0000000000000000
[12622.881964] R13: 0000000000000340 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffffa0b7a2dfe030
[12622.889926] FS:  0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffffa0baafb40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000
[12622.898956] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033
[12622.905367] CR2: 0000000000000300 CR3: 0000000641210001 CR4: 00000000001706e0
[12622.913328] Call Trace:
[12622.916055]  <TASK>
[12622.918394]  scsi_mq_get_budget+0x1a/0x110
[12622.922969]  __blk_mq_do_dispatch_sched+0x1d4/0x320
[12622.928404]  ? pick_next_task_fair+0x39/0x390
[12622.933268]  __blk_mq_sched_dispatch_requests+0xf4/0x140
[12622.939194]  blk_mq_sched_dispatch_requests+0x30/0x60
[12622.944829]  __blk_mq_run_hw_queue+0x30/0xa0
[12622.949593]  process_one_work+0x1e8/0x3c0
[12622.954059]  worker_thread+0x50/0x3b0
[12622.958144]  ? rescuer_thread+0x370/0x370
[12622.962616]  kthread+0x158/0x180
[12622.966218]  ? set_kthread_struct+0x40/0x40
[12622.970884]  ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30
[12622.974875]  </TASK>
[12622.977309] Modules linked in: scsi_debug rpcsec_gss_krb5 auth_rpcgss nfsv4 dns_resolver nfs lockd grace fscache netfs sunrpc dm_multipath intel_rapl_msr intel_rapl_common dell_wmi_descriptor sb_edac rfkill video x86_pkg_temp_thermal intel_powerclamp dcdbas coretemp kvm_intel kvm mgag200 irqbypass i2c_algo_bit rapl drm_kms_helper ipmi_ssif intel_cstate intel_uncore syscopyarea sysfillrect sysimgblt fb_sys_fops pcspkr cec mei_me lpc_ich mei ipmi_si ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler acpi_power_meter drm fuse xfs libcrc32c sr_mod cdrom sd_mod t10_pi sg ixgbe ahci libahci crct10dif_pclmul crc32_pclmul crc32c_intel libata megaraid_sas ghash_clmulni_intel tg3 wdat_w
---truncated---

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-47552?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Linux kernel.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-47552?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-47552 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-47552 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-2021-47552 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-47552 is a high-severity 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-2021-47552 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-2021-47552/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47552/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-47552
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-47552
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-47552

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-47552/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.