Read the docs
TI-2021-22251 Aliases CVE-2021-47607GHSA-fp67-w4xm-4hj6

bpf: Fix kernel address leakage in atomic cmpxchg's r0 aux reg

Priority LOW 24Published · Updated

Key facts

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

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

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Fix kernel address leakage in atomic cmpxchg's r0 aux reg The implementation of BPF_CMPXCHG on a high level has the following parameters: .-[old-val] .-[new-val] BPF_R0 = cmpxchg{32,64}(DST_REG + insn->off, BPF_R0, SRC_REG) `-[mem-loc] `-[old-val] Given a BPF insn can only have two registers (dst, src), the R0 is fixed and used as an auxilliary register for input (old value) as well as output (returning old value from memory location). While the verifier performs a number of safety checks, it misses to reject unprivileged programs where R0 contains a pointer as old value. Through brute-forcing it takes about ~16sec on my machine to leak a kernel pointer with BPF_CMPXCHG. The PoC is basically probing for kernel addresses by storing the guessed address into the map slot as a scalar, and using the map value pointer as R0 while SRC_REG has a canary value to detect a matching address. Fix it by checking R0 for pointers, and reject if that's the case for unprivileged programs.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00246 15th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Linux (Linux): 5.15.11, 5.16Red Hat: 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
LinuxLinux5.12 and later5.15.11, 5.16Patch availableCNA
  • Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.12 and later Fixed in 5.15.11, 5.16 Patch available CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 6

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*5.12 to before 5.15.11VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*5.16 rc1VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*5.16 rc2VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*5.16 rc3VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*5.16 rc4VulnerableLinux
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*5.16 rc5VulnerableLinux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.12 to before 5.15.11 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16 rc1 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16 rc2 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16 rc3 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16 rc4 Vulnerable ·Linux
  • cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16 rc5 Vulnerable ·Linux

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.15.11, 5.16

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9AffectedNo fix yet: Fix deferred
Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-47607
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-fp67-w4xm-4hj6

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