CVE-2021-47451

MEDIUM
Published May 22, 2024 Modified Sep 24, 2025 CWE-908

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: xt_IDLETIMER: fix panic that occurs when timer_type has garbage value Currently, when the rule related to IDLETIMER is added, idletimer_tg timer structure is initialized by kmalloc on executing idletimer_tg_create function. However, in this process timer->timer_type is not defined to a specific value. Thus, timer->timer_type has garbage value and it occurs kernel panic. So, this commit fixes the panic by initializing timer->timer_type using kzalloc instead of kmalloc. Test commands: # iptables -A OUTPUT -j IDLETIMER --timeout 1 --label test $ cat /sys/class/xt_idletimer/timers/test Killed Splat looks like: BUG: KASAN: user-memory-access in alarm_expires_remaining+0x49/0x70 Read of size 8 at addr 0000002e8c7bc4c8 by task cat/917 CPU: 12 PID: 917 Comm: cat Not tainted 5.14.0+ #3 79940a339f71eb14fc81aee1757a20d5bf13eb0e Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.13.0-1ubuntu1.1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x6e/0x9c kasan_report.cold+0x112/0x117 ? alarm_expires_remaining+0x49/0x70 __asan_load8+0x86/0xb0 alarm_expires_remaining+0x49/0x70 idletimer_tg_show+0xe5/0x19b [xt_IDLETIMER 11219304af9316a21bee5ba9d58f76a6b9bccc6d] dev_attr_show+0x3c/0x60 sysfs_kf_seq_show+0x11d/0x1f0 ? device_remove_bin_file+0x20/0x20 kernfs_seq_show+0xa4/0xb0 seq_read_iter+0x29c/0x750 kernfs_fop_read_iter+0x25a/0x2c0 ? __fsnotify_parent+0x3d1/0x570 ? iov_iter_init+0x70/0x90 new_sync_read+0x2a7/0x3d0 ? __x64_sys_llseek+0x230/0x230 ? rw_verify_area+0x81/0x150 vfs_read+0x17b/0x240 ksys_read+0xd9/0x180 ? vfs_write+0x460/0x460 ? do_syscall_64+0x16/0xc0 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on+0x79/0x120 __x64_sys_read+0x43/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x3b/0xc0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae RIP: 0033:0x7f0cdc819142 Code: c0 e9 c2 fe ff ff 50 48 8d 3d 3a ca 0a 00 e8 f5 19 02 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 64 8b 04 25 18 00 00 00 85 c0 75 10 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 56 c3 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 83 ec 28 48 89 54 24 RSP: 002b:00007fff28eee5b8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000000 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000020000 RCX: 00007f0cdc819142 RDX: 0000000000020000 RSI: 00007f0cdc032000 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007f0cdc032000 R08: 00007f0cdc031010 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000022 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00005607e9ee31f0 R13: 0000000000000003 R14: 0000000000020000 R15: 0000000000020000

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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-908 CWE-908

Affected Products

Vendor Product
linux linux_kernel
linux linux_kernel
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-2021-47451? +
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: xt_IDLETIMER: fix panic that occurs when timer_type has garbage value Currently, when the rule related to IDLETIMER is added, idletimer_tg timer structure is initialized by kmalloc on executing idletimer_tg_create function. However, in this process timer->timer_type is not defined to a specific value. Thus, timer->timer_type has garbage value and it occurs kernel panic. So, this commit fixes the panic by initializing timer->timer_type using kzalloc instead of kmalloc. Test commands: # iptables -A OUTPUT -j IDLETIMER --timeout 1 --label test $ cat /sys/class/xt_idletimer/timers/test Killed Splat looks like: BUG: KASAN: user-memory-access in alarm_expires_remaining+0x49/0x70 Read of size 8 at addr 0000002e8c7bc4c8 by task cat/917 CPU: 12 PID: 917 Comm: cat Not tainted 5.14.0+ #3 79940a339f71eb14fc81aee1757a20d5bf13eb0e Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 1.13.0-1ubuntu1.1 04/01/2014 Call Trace: dump_stack_lvl+0x6e/0x9c kasan_report.cold+0x112/0x117 ? alarm_expires_remaining+0x49/0x70 __asan_load8+0x86/0xb0 alarm_expires_remaining+0x49/0x70 idletimer_tg_show+0xe5/0x19b [xt_IDLETIMER 11219304af9316a21bee5ba9d58f76a6b9bccc6d] dev_attr_show+0x3c/0x60 sysfs_kf_seq_show+0x11d/0x1f0 ? device_remove_bin_file+0x20/0x20 kernfs_seq_show+0xa4/0xb0 seq_read_iter+0x29c/0x750 kernfs_fop_read_iter+0x25a/0x2c0 ? __fsnotify_parent+0x3d1/0x570 ? iov_iter_init+0x70/0x90 new_sync_read+0x2a7/0x3d0 ? __x64_sys_llseek+0x230/0x230 ? rw_verify_area+0x81/0x150 vfs_read+0x17b/0x240 ksys_read+0xd9/0x180 ? vfs_write+0x460/0x460 ? do_syscall_64+0x16/0xc0 ? lockdep_hardirqs_on+0x79/0x120 __x64_sys_read+0x43/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x3b/0xc0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae RIP: 0033:0x7f0cdc819142 Code: c0 e9 c2 fe ff ff 50 48 8d 3d 3a ca 0a 00 e8 f5 19 02 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 f3 0f 1e fa 64 8b 04 25 18 00 00 00 85 c0 75 10 0f 05 <48> 3d 00 f0 ff ff 77 56 c3 0f 1f 44 00 00 48 83 ec 28 48 89 54 24 RSP: 002b:00007fff28eee5b8 EFLAGS: 00000246 ORIG_RAX: 0000000000000000 RAX: ffffffffffffffda RBX: 0000000000020000 RCX: 00007f0cdc819142 RDX: 0000000000020000 RSI: 00007f0cdc032000 RDI: 0000000000000003 RBP: 00007f0cdc032000 R08: 00007f0cdc031010 R09: 0000000000000000 R10: 0000000000000022 R11: 0000000000000246 R12: 00005607e9ee31f0 R13: 0000000000000003 R14: 0000000000020000 R15: 0000000000020000 It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2021-47451? +
CVE-2021-47451 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-2021-47451? +
CVE-2021-47451 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-2021-47451? +
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.

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