Linux Kernel up to 5.4.150/5.10.70/5.14.9 hwmon devm_i2c_new_dummy_device null pointer dereference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.150/5.10.70/5.14.9. It has been rated as critical. Affected by this issue is the function devm_i2c_new_dummy_device of the component hwmon. The manipulation leads to null pointer dereference. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2021-47385. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.4.150/5.10.70/5.14.9. This issue affects the function devm_i2c_new_dummy_device of the component hwmon. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-476. A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: hwmon: (w83792d) Fix NULL pointer dereference by removing unnecessary structure field If driver read val value sufficient for (val & 0x08) && (!(val & 0x80)) && ((val & 0x7) == ((val >> 4) & 0x7)) from device then Null pointer dereference occurs. (It is possible if tmp = 0b0xyz1xyz, where same literals mean same numbers) Also lm75[] does not serve a purpose anymore after switching to devm_i2c_new_dummy_device() in w83791d_detect_subclients(). The patch fixes possible NULL pointer dereference by removing lm75[]. Found by Linux Driver Verification project (linuxtesting.org). [groeck: Dropped unnecessary continuation lines, fixed multipline alignment]

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2021-47385 since 05/21/2024. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 207773 (Oracle Linux 8 : kernel (ELSA-2024-7000)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 5.4.151, 5.10.71 or 5.14.10 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 200ced5ba724/1499bb2c3a87/24af1fe376e2/0f36b88173f0 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 databases at Tenable (207773) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2025-1293). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Affected

• Ubuntu Linux
• IBM DataPower Gateway

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Linux

Name

• Kernel

Version

• 5.4.150
• 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
• 5.14.0
• 5.14.1
• 5.14.2
• 5.14.3
• 5.14.4
• 5.14.5
• 5.14.6
• 5.14.7
• 5.14.8
• 5.14.9

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.kernel.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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