CVE-2021-47436

MEDIUM
Published May 22, 2024 Modified Mar 1, 2025 CWE-476

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: musb: dsps: Fix the probe error path Commit 7c75bde329d7 ("usb: musb: musb_dsps: request_irq() after initializing musb") has inverted the calls to dsps_setup_optional_vbus_irq() and dsps_create_musb_pdev() without updating correctly the error path. dsps_create_musb_pdev() allocates and registers a new platform device which must be unregistered and freed with platform_device_unregister(), and this is missing upon dsps_setup_optional_vbus_irq() error. While on the master branch it seems not to trigger any issue, I observed a kernel crash because of a NULL pointer dereference with a v5.10.70 stable kernel where the patch mentioned above was backported. With this kernel version, -EPROBE_DEFER is returned the first time dsps_setup_optional_vbus_irq() is called which triggers the probe to error out without unregistering the platform device. Unfortunately, on the Beagle Bone Black Wireless, the platform device still living in the system is being used by the USB Ethernet gadget driver, which during the boot phase triggers the crash. My limited knowledge of the musb world prevents me to revert this commit which was sent to silence a robot warning which, as far as I understand, does not make sense. The goal of this patch was to prevent an IRQ to fire before the platform device being registered. I think this cannot ever happen due to the fact that enabling the interrupts is done by the ->enable() callback of the platform musb device, and this platform device must be already registered in order for the core or any other user to use this callback. Hence, I decided to fix the error path, which might prevent future errors on mainline kernels while also fixing older ones.

Is your site exposed to CVE-2021-47436?

Run a free security scan — no signup, results in seconds.

CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-476 CWE-476

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-47436? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: musb: dsps: Fix the probe error path Commit 7c75bde329d7 ("usb: musb: musb_dsps: request_irq() after initializing musb") has inverted the calls to dsps_setup_optional_vbus_irq() and dsps_create_musb_pdev() without updating correctly the error path. dsps_create_musb_pdev() allocates and registers a new platform device which must be unregistered and freed with platform_device_unregister(), and this is missing upon dsps_setup_optional_vbus_irq() error. While on the master branch it seems not to trigger any issue, I observed a kernel crash because of a NULL pointer dereference with a v5.10.70 stable kernel where the patch mentioned above was backported. With this kernel version, -EPROBE_DEFER is returned the first time dsps_setup_optional_vbus_irq() is called which triggers the probe to error out without unregistering the platform device. Unfortunately, on the Beagle Bone Black Wireless, the platform device still living in the system is being used by the USB Ethernet gadget driver, which during the boot phase triggers the crash. My limited knowledge of the musb world prevents me to revert this commit which was sent to silence a robot warning which, as far as I understand, does not make sense. The goal of this patch was to prevent an IRQ to fire before the platform device being registered. I think this cannot ever happen due to the fact that enabling the interrupts is done by the ->enable() callback of the platform musb device, and this platform device must be already registered in order for the core or any other user to use this callback. Hence, I decided to fix the error path, which might prevent future errors on mainline kernels while also fixing older ones. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2021-47436? +
CVE-2021-47436 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2021-47436? +
CVE-2021-47436 affects products from linux, specifically: linux_kernel. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2021-47436? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

Related Vulnerabilities

Don't wait for an exploit

Scan your website for vulnerabilities like CVE-2021-47436 — free, no signup required.