net/mlx5e: CT, Fix multiple allocations and memleak of mod acts
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-401.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5e: CT, Fix multiple allocations and memleak of mod acts CT clear action offload adds additional mod hdr actions to the flow's original mod actions in order to clear the registers which hold ct_state. When such flow also includes encap action, a neigh update event can cause the driver to unoffload the flow and then reoffload it. Each time this happens, the ct clear handling adds that same set of mod hdr actions to reset ct_state until the max of mod hdr actions is reached. Also the driver never releases the allocated mod hdr actions and causing a memleak. Fix above two issues by moving CT clear mod acts allocation into the parsing actions phase and only use it when offloading the rule. The release of mod acts will be done in the normal flow_put(). backtrace: [<000000007316e2f3>] krealloc+0x83/0xd0 [<00000000ef157de1>] mlx5e_mod_hdr_alloc+0x147/0x300 [mlx5_core] [<00000000970ce4ae>] mlx5e_tc_match_to_reg_set_and_get_id+0xd7/0x240 [mlx5_core] [<0000000067c5fa17>] mlx5e_tc_match_to_reg_set+0xa/0x20 [mlx5_core] [<00000000d032eb98>] mlx5_tc_ct_entry_set_registers.isra.0+0x36/0xc0 [mlx5_core] [<00000000fd23b869>] mlx5_tc_ct_flow_offload+0x272/0x1f10 [mlx5_core] [<000000004fc24acc>] mlx5e_tc_offload_fdb_rules.part.0+0x150/0x620 [mlx5_core] [<00000000dc741c17>] mlx5e_tc_encap_flows_add+0x489/0x690 [mlx5_core] [<00000000e92e49d7>] mlx5e_rep_update_flows+0x6e4/0x9b0 [mlx5_core] [<00000000f60f5602>] mlx5e_rep_neigh_update+0x39a/0x5d0 [mlx5_core]
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 | 5.7 and later | 5.15.5, 5.16 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.7 and later Fixed in 5.15.5, 5.16 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.5, 5.16
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-47199
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q54v-653w-2v9v
References
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-2021-47199 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-47199 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q54v-653w-2v9v · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2021-47199 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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