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TI-2021-21676 Aliases CVE-2021-47011GHSA-jvv7-jhh3-m96v

mm: memcontrol: slab: fix obtain a reference to a freeing memcg

Priority LOW 34Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 3 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm: memcontrol: slab: fix obtain a reference to a freeing memcg Patch series "Use obj_cgroup APIs to charge kmem pages", v5. Since Roman's series "The new cgroup slab memory controller" applied. All slab objects are charged with the new APIs of obj_cgroup. The new APIs introduce a struct obj_cgroup to charge slab objects. It prevents long-living objects from pinning the original memory cgroup in the memory. But there are still some corner objects (e.g. allocations larger than order-1 page on SLUB) which are not charged with the new APIs. Those objects (include the pages which are allocated from buddy allocator directly) are charged as kmem pages which still hold a reference to the memory cgroup. E.g. We know that the kernel stack is charged as kmem pages because the size of the kernel stack can be greater than 2 pages (e.g. 16KB on x86_64 or arm64). If we create a thread (suppose the thread stack is charged to memory cgroup A) and then move it from memory cgroup A to memory cgroup B. Because the kernel stack of the thread hold a reference to the memory cgroup A. The thread can pin the memory cgroup A in the memory even if we remove the cgroup A. If we want to see this scenario by using the following script. We can see that the system has added 500 dying cgroups (This is not a real world issue, just a script to show that the large kmallocs are charged as kmem pages which can pin the memory cgroup in the memory). #!/bin/bash cat /proc/cgroups | grep memory cd /sys/fs/cgroup/memory echo 1 > memory.move_charge_at_immigrate for i in range{1..500} do mkdir kmem_test echo $$ > kmem_test/cgroup.procs sleep 3600 & echo $$ > cgroup.procs echo `cat kmem_test/cgroup.procs` > cgroup.procs rmdir kmem_test done cat /proc/cgroups | grep memory This patchset aims to make those kmem pages to drop the reference to memory cgroup by using the APIs of obj_cgroup. Finally, we can see that the number of the dying cgroups will not increase if we run the above test script. This patch (of 7): The rcu_read_lock/unlock only can guarantee that the memcg will not be freed, but it cannot guarantee the success of css_get (which is in the refill_stock when cached memcg changed) to memcg. rcu_read_lock() memcg = obj_cgroup_memcg(old) __memcg_kmem_uncharge(memcg) refill_stock(memcg) if (stock->cached != memcg) // css_get can change the ref counter from 0 back to 1. css_get(&memcg->css) rcu_read_unlock() This fix is very like the commit: eefbfa7fd678 ("mm: memcg/slab: fix use after free in obj_cgroup_charge") Fix this by holding a reference to the memcg which is passed to the __memcg_kmem_uncharge() before calling __memcg_kmem_uncharge().

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00251 16th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 5.10.37, 5.11.21, 5.12.4 +1Red Hat: 1 advisoryRed Hat: 2 fixed, 3 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
LinuxLinux5.10.11 to before 5.10.375.10.37Patch availableCNA
LinuxLinux5.11 and later5.10.37, 5.11.21, 5.12.4, 5.13Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10.11 to before 5.10.37 Fixed in 5.10.37 Patch available CNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.11 and later Fixed in 5.10.37, 5.11.21, 5.12.4, 5.13 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*5.10.11 to before 5.10.37; 5.11 to before 5.11.21; 5.12 to before 5.12.4VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.10.11 to before 5.10.37; 5.11 to before 5.11.21; 5.12 to before 5.12.4 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.37
  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.37, 5.11.21, 5.12.4, 5.13

Red Hat 1 advisory

  • RHSA-2021:4356 Released 2021-11-09 · Red Hat rating Moderate
    kernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
    • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-348.el8
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-348.el8, kernel-4.18.0-348.el8, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-348.el8 +19

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
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8)Fixed RHSA-2021:4356
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8)Fixed RHSA-2021:4356
Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-47011
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-jvv7-jhh3-m96v

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