Linux Kernel up to 5.15.12 USB Descriptor lib/refcount.c ffs_data_clear use after free

| CVSS Meta Temp Score | Current Exploit Price (≈) | CTI Interest Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4.4 | $0-$5k | 0.00 |
Summary
A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.12. Affected by this issue is the function ffs_data_clear in the library lib/refcount.c of the component USB Descriptor Handler. Such manipulation leads to use after free.
This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2021-46933. No exploit exists.
Upgrading the affected component is recommended.
Details
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.15.12 (Operating System). Affected by this issue is the function ffs_data_clear in the library lib/refcount.c of the component USB Descriptor Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: gadget: f_fs: Clear ffs_eventfd in ffs_data_clear. ffs_data_clear is indirectly called from both ffs_fs_kill_sb and ffs_ep0_release, so it ends up being called twice when userland closes ep0 and then unmounts f_fs. If userland provided an eventfd along with function's USB descriptors, it ends up calling eventfd_ctx_put as many times, causing a refcount underflow. NULL-ify ffs_eventfd to prevent these extraneous eventfd_ctx_put calls. Also, set epfiles to NULL right after de-allocating it, for readability. For completeness, ffs_data_clear actually ends up being called thrice, the last call being before the whole ffs structure gets freed, so when this specific sequence happens there is a second underflow happening (but not being reported): /sys/kernel/debug/tracing# modprobe usb_f_fs /sys/kernel/debug/tracing# echo ffs_data_clear > set_ftrace_filter /sys/kernel/debug/tracing# echo function > current_tracer /sys/kernel/debug/tracing# echo 1 > tracing_on (setup gadget, run and kill function userland process, teardown gadget) /sys/kernel/debug/tracing# echo 0 > tracing_on /sys/kernel/debug/tracing# cat trace smartcard-openp-436 [000] ..... 1946.208786: ffs_data_clear <-ffs_data_closed smartcard-openp-431 [000] ..... 1946.279147: ffs_data_clear <-ffs_data_closed smartcard-openp-431 [000] .n... 1946.905512: ffs_data_clear <-ffs_data_put Warning output corresponding to above trace: [ 1946.284139] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 431 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0x110/0x15c [ 1946.293094] refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. [ 1946.298164] Modules linked in: usb_f_ncm(E) u_ether(E) usb_f_fs(E) hci_uart(E) btqca(E) btrtl(E) btbcm(E) btintel(E) bluetooth(E) nls_ascii(E) nls_cp437(E) vfat(E) fat(E) bcm2835_v4l2(CE) bcm2835_mmal_vchiq(CE) videobuf2_vmalloc(E) videobuf2_memops(E) sha512_generic(E) videobuf2_v4l2(E) sha512_arm(E) videobuf2_common(E) videodev(E) cpufreq_dt(E) snd_bcm2835(CE) brcmfmac(E) mc(E) vc4(E) ctr(E) brcmutil(E) snd_soc_core(E) snd_pcm_dmaengine(E) drbg(E) snd_pcm(E) snd_timer(E) snd(E) soundcore(E) drm_kms_helper(E) cec(E) ansi_cprng(E) rc_core(E) syscopyarea(E) raspberrypi_cpufreq(E) sysfillrect(E) sysimgblt(E) cfg80211(E) max17040_battery(OE) raspberrypi_hwmon(E) fb_sys_fops(E) regmap_i2c(E) ecdh_generic(E) rfkill(E) ecc(E) bcm2835_rng(E) rng_core(E) vchiq(CE) leds_gpio(E) libcomposite(E) fuse(E) configfs(E) ip_tables(E) x_tables(E) autofs4(E) ext4(E) crc16(E) mbcache(E) jbd2(E) crc32c_generic(E) sdhci_iproc(E) sdhci_pltfm(E) sdhci(E) [ 1946.399633] CPU: 0 PID: 431 Comm: smartcard-openp Tainted: G C OE 5.15.0-1-rpi #1 Debian 5.15.3-1 [ 1946.417950] Hardware name: BCM2835 [ 1946.425442] Backtrace: [ 1946.432048] [] (dump_backtrace) from [] (show_stack+0x20/0x24) [ 1946.448226] r7:00000009 r6:0000001c r5:c04a948c r4:c0a64e2c [ 1946.458412] [] (show_stack) from [] (dump_stack+0x28/0x30) [ 1946.470380] [] (dump_stack) from [] (__warn+0xe8/0x154) [ 1946.482067] r5:c04a948c r4:c0a71dc8 [ 1946.490184] [] (__warn) from [] (warn_slowpath_fmt+0xa0/0xe4) [ 1946.506758] r7:00000009 r6:0000001c r5:c0a71dc8 r4:c0a71e04 [ 1946.517070] [] (warn_slowpath_fmt) from [] (refcount_warn_saturate+0x110/0x15c) [ 1946.535309] r8:c0100224 r7:c0dfcb84 r6:ffffffff r5:c3b84c00 r4:c24a17c0 [ 1946.546708] [] (refcount_warn_saturate) from [] (eventfd_ctx_put+0x48/0x74) [ 1946.564476] [] (eventfd_ctx_put) from [] (ffs_data_clear+0xd0/0x118 [usb_f_fs]) [ 1946.582664] r5:c3b84c00 r4:c2695b00 [ 1946.590668] [] (ffs_data_clear [usb_f_fs]) from [] (ffs_data_closed+0x9c/0x150 [usb_f_fs]) [ 1946.609608] r5:bf54d014 r4:c2695b00 [ 1946.617522] [] (ffs_data_closed [usb_f_fs]) from [] (ffs_fs_kill_sb+0x2c/0x30 [usb_f_fs]) [ 1946.636217] r7:c0dfcb ---truncated---
The weakness was disclosed 02/27/2024. The advisory is available at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2021-46933 since 02/25/2024. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.
The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 276342 (TencentOS Server 2: kernel (TSSA-2024:0557)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.
Upgrading to version 4.4.298, 4.9.296, 4.14.261, 4.19.224, 5.4.170, 5.10.90, 5.15.13 or 5.16 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch f976dd701115/cc8c8028c21b/52500239e3f2/33f6a0cbb777/240fc586e83d/1c4ace3e6b85/ebef2aa29f37/b1e088737942 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at git.kernel.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.
The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (276342). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Product
Type
Vendor
Name
Version
- 4.4.297
- 4.9.295
- 4.14.260
- 4.19.223
- 5.0
- 5.1
- 5.2
- 5.3
- 5.4
- 5.4.169
- 5.5
- 5.6
- 5.7
- 5.8
- 5.9
- 5.10
- 5.10.0
- 5.10.1
- 5.10.2
- 5.10.3
- 5.10.4
- 5.10.5
- 5.10.6
- 5.10.7
- 5.10.8
- 5.10.9
- 5.10.10
- 5.10.11
- 5.10.12
- 5.10.13
- 5.10.14
- 5.10.15
- 5.10.16
- 5.10.17
- 5.10.18
- 5.10.19
- 5.10.20
- 5.10.21
- 5.10.22
- 5.10.23
- 5.10.24
- 5.10.25
- 5.10.26
- 5.10.27
- 5.10.28
- 5.10.29
- 5.10.30
- 5.10.31
- 5.10.32
- 5.10.33
- 5.10.34
- 5.10.35
- 5.10.36
- 5.10.37
- 5.10.38
- 5.10.39
- 5.10.40
- 5.10.41
- 5.10.42
- 5.10.43
- 5.10.44
- 5.10.45
- 5.10.46
- 5.10.47
- 5.10.48
- 5.10.49
- 5.10.50
- 5.10.51
- 5.10.52
- 5.10.53
- 5.10.54
- 5.10.55
- 5.10.56
- 5.10.57
- 5.10.58
- 5.10.59
- 5.10.60
- 5.10.61
- 5.10.62
- 5.10.63
- 5.10.64
- 5.10.65
- 5.10.66
- 5.10.67
- 5.10.68
- 5.10.69
- 5.10.70
- 5.10.71
- 5.10.72
- 5.10.73
- 5.10.74
- 5.10.75
- 5.10.76
- 5.10.77
- 5.10.78
- 5.10.79
- 5.10.80
- 5.10.81
- 5.10.82
- 5.10.83
- 5.10.84
- 5.10.85
- 5.10.86
- 5.10.87
- 5.10.88
- 5.10.89
- 5.11
- 5.12
- 5.13
- 5.14
- 5.15
- 5.15.0
- 5.15.1
- 5.15.2
- 5.15.3
- 5.15.4
- 5.15.5
- 5.15.6
- 5.15.7
- 5.15.8
- 5.15.9
- 5.15.10
- 5.15.11
- 5.15.12
License
Website
- Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/
CPE 2.3
CPE 2.2
CVSSv4
VulDB Vector: 🔍VulDB Reliability: 🔍
CVSSv3
VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.6VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.4
VulDB Base Score: 4.6
VulDB Temp Score: 4.4
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍
CVSSv2
| AV | AC | Au | C | I | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 |
| 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 |
| 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 | 💳 |
| Vector | Complexity | Authentication | Confidentiality | Integrity | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock |
| Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock |
| Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock |
VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍
Exploiting
Class: Use after freeCWE: CWE-416 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍
Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Partially
Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined
EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍
| 0-Day | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock | Unlock |
Nessus ID: 276342
Nessus Name: TencentOS Server 2: kernel (TSSA-2024:0557)
Threat Intelligence
Interest: 🔍Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍
Countermeasures
Recommended: UpgradeStatus: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
Upgrade: Kernel 4.4.298/4.9.296/4.14.261/4.19.224/5.4.170/5.10.90/5.15.13/5.16
Patch: f976dd701115/cc8c8028c21b/52500239e3f2/33f6a0cbb777/240fc586e83d/1c4ace3e6b85/ebef2aa29f37/b1e088737942
Timeline
02/25/2024 🔍02/27/2024 🔍
02/27/2024 🔍
11/23/2025 🔍
Sources
Vendor: kernel.orgAdvisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed
CVE: CVE-2021-46933 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2021-46933
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-254882
Entry
Created: 02/27/2024 11:07Updated: 11/23/2025 18:24
Changes: 02/27/2024 11:07 (44), 11/23/2025 18:24 (17)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
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