PCI: aardvark: Fix kernel panic during PIO transfer
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: aardvark: Fix kernel panic during PIO transfer Trying to start a new PIO transfer by writing value 0 in PIO_START register when previous transfer has not yet completed (which is indicated by value 1 in PIO_START) causes an External Abort on CPU, which results in kernel panic: SError Interrupt on CPU0, code 0xbf000002 -- SError Kernel panic - not syncing: Asynchronous SError Interrupt To prevent kernel panic, it is required to reject a new PIO transfer when previous one has not finished yet. If previous PIO transfer is not finished yet, the kernel may issue a new PIO request only if the previous PIO transfer timed out. In the past the root cause of this issue was incorrectly identified (as it often happens during link retraining or after link down event) and special hack was implemented in Trusted Firmware to catch all SError events in EL3, to ignore errors with code 0xbf000002 and not forwarding any other errors to kernel and instead throw panic from EL3 Trusted Firmware handler. Links to discussion and patches about this issue: https://git.trustedfirmware.org/TF-A/trusted-firmware-a.git/commit/?id=3c7dcdac5c50 https://lore.kernel.org/linux-pci/[email protected]/ https://lore.kernel.org/linux-pci/[email protected]/ https://review.trustedfirmware.org/c/TF-A/trusted-firmware-a/+/1541 But the real cause was the fact that during link retraining or after link down event the PIO transfer may take longer time, up to the 1.44s until it times out. This increased probability that a new PIO transfer would be issued by kernel while previous one has not finished yet. After applying this change into the kernel, it is possible to revert the mentioned TF-A hack and SError events do not have to be caught in TF-A EL3.
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 | 4.8 and later | 4.14.240, 4.19.198, 5.4.128, 5.10.46, 5.12.13, 5.13 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 4.8 and later Fixed in 4.14.240, 4.19.198, 5.4.128, 5.10.46, 5.12.13, 5.13 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 7
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 4.14.240; 4.15 to before 4.19.198; 4.20 to before 5.4.128; 5.5 to before 5.10.46; 5.11 to before 5.12.13 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 rc1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 rc2 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 rc3 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 rc4 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 rc5 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.13 rc6 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 4.14.240; 4.15 to before 4.19.198; 4.20 to before 5.4.128; 5.5 to before 5.10.46; 5.11 to before 5.12.13 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.13:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.13 rc6 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 4.14.240, 4.19.198, 5.4.128, 5.10.46, 5.12.13, 5.13
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 4 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-47229
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-74hg-7r85-vvw3
References
Patch 6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/400e6b1860c8be61388d0b77814c53260f96e17a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b00a9aaa4be20ad6e3311fb78a485eae0899e89a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4c90f90a91d75c3c73dd633827c90e8746d9f54d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1a1dbc4473974867fe8c5f195c17b341c8e82867
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/3d213a4ddf49a860be6e795482c17f87e0c82b2a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f18139966d072dab8e4398c95ce955a9742e04f7
More Linux Kernel vulnerabilities
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- 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-2021-47229 · CVE Program
- CVE-2021-47229 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-74hg-7r85-vvw3 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2021-47229 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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