Read the docs
TI-2021-21602 Aliases CVE-2021-46935GHSA-x9rp-8j88-vh76

binder: fix async_free_space accounting for empty parcels

Priority LOW 24CWE-668Published · Updated

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

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00229 13th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 4.14.261, 4.19.224, 5.4.170 +3Red Hat: 2 without a fix

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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
LinuxLinux4.14 and later4.14.261, 4.19.224, 5.4.170, 5.10.90, 5.15.13, 5.16Patch availableCNA
  • 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

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
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 5.15.13VulnerableLinux
  • 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 →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Not affected: 2 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-46935
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x9rp-8j88-vh76

References

  • 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
See all 15278 →

Sources