sched/fair: Fix shift-out-of-bounds in load_balance()
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/fair: Fix shift-out-of-bounds in load_balance() Syzbot reported a handful of occurrences where an sd->nr_balance_failed can grow to much higher values than one would expect. A successful load_balance() resets it to 0; a failed one increments it. Once it gets to sd->cache_nice_tries + 3, this *should* trigger an active balance, which will either set it to sd->cache_nice_tries+1 or reset it to 0. However, in case the to-be-active-balanced task is not allowed to run on env->dst_cpu, then the increment is done without any further modification. This could then be repeated ad nauseam, and would explain the absurdly high values reported by syzbot (86, 149). VincentG noted there is value in letting sd->cache_nice_tries grow, so the shift itself should be fixed. That means preventing: """ If the value of the right operand is negative or is greater than or equal to the width of the promoted left operand, the behavior is undefined. """ Thus we need to cap the shift exponent to BITS_PER_TYPE(typeof(lefthand)) - 1. I had a look around for other similar cases via coccinelle: @expr@ position pos; expression E1; expression E2; @@ ( E1 >> E2@pos | E1 >> E2@pos ) @cst depends on expr@ position pos; expression expr.E1; constant cst; @@ ( E1 >> cst@pos | E1 << cst@pos ) @script:python depends on !cst@ pos << expr.pos; exp << expr.E2; @@ # Dirty hack to ignore constexpr if exp.upper() != exp: coccilib.report.print_report(pos[0], "Possible UB shift here") The only other match in kernel/sched is rq_clock_thermal() which employs sched_thermal_decay_shift, and that exponent is already capped to 10, so that one is fine.
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 | 5.10 and later | 5.10.37, 5.11.21, 5.12.4, 5.13 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10 and later Fixed in 5.10.37, 5.11.21, 5.12.4, 5.13 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.10 to before 5.10.37; 5.11 to before 5.11.21; 5.12 to before 5.12.4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.10 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, 5.11.21, 5.12.4, 5.13
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-2021-47044
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-8g29-7ww6-62wf
References
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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Sources
- CVE-2021-47044 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-47044 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-8g29-7ww6-62wf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2021-47044 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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