binder: fix async_free_space accounting for empty parcels
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-668 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: binder: fix async_free_space accounting for empty parcels In 4.13, commit 74310e06be4d ("android: binder: Move buffer out of area shared with user space") fixed a kernel structure visibility issue. As part of that patch, sizeof(void *) was used as the buffer size for 0-length data payloads so the driver could detect abusive clients sending 0-length asynchronous transactions to a server by enforcing limits on async_free_size. Unfortunately, on the "free" side, the accounting of async_free_space did not add the sizeof(void *) back. The result was that up to 8-bytes of async_free_space were leaked on every async transaction of 8-bytes or less. These small transactions are uncommon, so this accounting issue has gone undetected for several years. The fix is to use "buffer_size" (the allocated buffer size) instead of "size" (the logical buffer size) when updating the async_free_space during the free operation. These are the same except for this corner case of asynchronous transactions with payloads < 8 bytes.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 4.14 and later | 4.14.261, 4.19.224, 5.4.170, 5.10.90, 5.15.13, 5.16 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.14 and later Fixed in 4.14.261, 4.19.224, 5.4.170, 5.10.90, 5.15.13, 5.16 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 4.14.0 to before 4.14.261; 4.15.0 to before 4.19.224; 4.20.0 to before 5.4.170; 5.5.0 to before 5.10.90; 5.11.0 to before 5.15.13 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 4.14.0 to before 4.14.261; 4.15.0 to before 4.19.224; 4.20.0 to before 5.4.170; 5.5.0 to before 5.10.90; 5.11.0 to before 5.15.13 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.14.261, 4.19.224, 5.4.170, 5.10.90, 5.15.13, 5.16
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-46935
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x9rp-8j88-vh76
References
Patch 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2d2df539d05205fd83c404d5f2dff48d36f9b495
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7c7064402609aeb6fb11be1b4ec10673ff17b593
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/103b16a8c51f96d5fe063022869ea906c256e5da
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1cb8444f3114f0bb2f6e3bcadcf09aa4a28425d4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/17691bada6b2f1d5f1c0f6d28cd9d0727023b0ff
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cfd0d84ba28c18b531648c9d4a35ecca89ad9901
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-26358 tls: fix handling of zero-length records on the rx_list KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-38352 netfilter: bridge: make ebt_snat ARP rewrite writable KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2013-05264 The (1) get_user and (2) put_user API functions in the Linux kernel before 3.5.5 on the… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-00125 Integer overflow in kernel KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2013-01864 The perf_swevent_init function in kernel/events/core.c in the Linux kernel before 3.8.9… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2021-05514 Heap Out-Of-Bounds Write in Netfilter IP6T_SO_SET_REPLACE KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.3
Sources
- CVE-2021-46935 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-46935 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-x9rp-8j88-vh76 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2021-46935 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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