Linux Kernel up to 5.13.3 SCSI scsi_host_alloc null pointer dereference

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5.0$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.13.3 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function scsi_host_alloc of the component SCSI. This manipulation causes null pointer dereference. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2021-47337. There is no exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.13.3 and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function scsi_host_alloc of the component SCSI. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a null pointer dereference vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is 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. As an impact it is known to affect availability. The summary by CVE is:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: core: Fix bad pointer dereference when ehandler kthread is invalid Commit 66a834d09293 ("scsi: core: Fix error handling of scsi_host_alloc()") changed the allocation logic to call put_device() to perform host cleanup with the assumption that IDA removal and stopping the kthread would properly be performed in scsi_host_dev_release(). However, in the unlikely case that the error handler thread fails to spawn, shost->ehandler is set to ERR_PTR(-ENOMEM). The error handler cleanup code in scsi_host_dev_release() will call kthread_stop() if shost->ehandler != NULL which will always be the case whether the kthread was successfully spawned or not. In the case that it failed to spawn this has the nasty side effect of trying to dereference an invalid pointer when kthread_stop() is called. The following splat provides an example of this behavior in the wild: scsi host11: error handler thread failed to spawn, error = -4 Kernel attempted to read user page (10c) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x0000010c Faulting instruction address: 0xc00000000818e9a8 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] LE PAGE_SIZE=64K MMU=Hash SMP NR_CPUS=2048 NUMA pSeries Modules linked in: ibmvscsi(+) scsi_transport_srp dm_multipath dm_mirror dm_region hash dm_log dm_mod fuse overlay squashfs loop CPU: 12 PID: 274 Comm: systemd-udevd Not tainted 5.13.0-rc7 #1 NIP: c00000000818e9a8 LR: c0000000089846e8 CTR: 0000000000007ee8 REGS: c000000037d12ea0 TRAP: 0300 Not tainted (5.13.0-rc7) MSR: 800000000280b033 <SF,VEC,VSX,EE,FP,ME,IR,DR,RI,LE> CR: 28228228 XER: 20040001 CFAR: c0000000089846e4 DAR: 000000000000010c DSISR: 40000000 IRQMASK: 0 GPR00: c0000000089846e8 c000000037d13140 c000000009cc1100 fffffffffffffffc GPR04: 0000000000000001 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 c000000037dc0000 GPR08: 0000000000000000 c000000037dc0000 0000000000000001 00000000fffff7ff GPR12: 0000000000008000 c00000000a049000 c000000037d13d00 000000011134d5a0 GPR16: 0000000000001740 c0080000190d0000 c0080000190d1740 c000000009129288 GPR20: c000000037d13bc0 0000000000000001 c000000037d13bc0 c0080000190b7898 GPR24: c0080000190b7708 0000000000000000 c000000033bb2c48 0000000000000000 GPR28: c000000046b28280 0000000000000000 000000000000010c fffffffffffffffc NIP [c00000000818e9a8] kthread_stop+0x38/0x230 LR [c0000000089846e8] scsi_host_dev_release+0x98/0x160 Call Trace: [c000000033bb2c48] 0xc000000033bb2c48 (unreliable) [c0000000089846e8] scsi_host_dev_release+0x98/0x160 [c00000000891e960] device_release+0x60/0x100 [c0000000087e55c4] kobject_release+0x84/0x210 [c00000000891ec78] put_device+0x28/0x40 [c000000008984ea4] scsi_host_alloc+0x314/0x430 [c0080000190b38bc] ibmvscsi_probe+0x54/0xad0 [ibmvscsi] [c000000008110104] vio_bus_probe+0xa4/0x4b0 [c00000000892a860] really_probe+0x140/0x680 [c00000000892aefc] driver_probe_device+0x15c/0x200 [c00000000892b63c] device_driver_attach+0xcc/0xe0 [c00000000892b740] __driver_attach+0xf0/0x200 [c000000008926f28] bus_for_each_dev+0xa8/0x130 [c000000008929ce4] driver_attach+0x34/0x50 [c000000008928fc0] bus_add_driver+0x1b0/0x300 [c00000000892c798] driver_register+0x98/0x1a0 [c00000000810eb60] __vio_register_driver+0x80/0xe0 [c0080000190b4a30] ibmvscsi_module_init+0x9c/0xdc [ibmvscsi] [c0000000080121d0] do_one_initcall+0x60/0x2d0 [c000000008261abc] do_init_module+0x7c/0x320 [c000000008265700] load_module+0x2350/0x25b0 [c000000008265cb4] __do_sys_finit_module+0xd4/0x160 [c000000008031110] system_call_exception+0x150/0x2d0 [c00000000800d35c] system_call_common+0xec/0x278 Fix this be nulling shost->ehandler when the kthread fails to spawn.

It is possible to read the advisory at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2021-47337 since 05/21/2024. The exploitation appears to be difficult. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 4.9.276, 4.14.240, 4.19.198, 5.4.134, 5.10.52, 5.12.19 or 5.13.4 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch d2f0b960d07e/f3d0a109240c/e1bd3fac2baa/887bfae2732b/ea518b70ed5e/8e4212ecf071/c1671d2d2ef8/93aa71ad7379 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 CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2024-1197). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Affected

  • Debian Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Ubuntu Linux
  • SUSE Linux
  • IBM InfoSphere Guardium
  • Oracle Linux
  • EMC Avamar
  • Dell NetWorker
  • IBM Security Guardium
  • RESF Rocky Linux
  • Broadcom Brocade SANnav
  • Open Source Linux Kernel
  • IBM Business Automation Workflow
  • IBM Spectrum Protect Plus
  • IBM QRadar SIEM
  • Dell Avamar
  • Juniper Junos Space
  • IBM DB2
  • IBM Storage Scale System
  • SolarWinds Security Event Manager
  • Dell PowerProtect Data Domain
  • Dell PowerProtect Data Domain Management Center
  • Dell PowerProtect Data Domain OS

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.1
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.8
VulDB Temp Score: 4.6
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Null pointer dereference
CWE: CWE-476 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Kernel 4.9.276/4.14.240/4.19.198/5.4.134/5.10.52/5.12.19/5.13.4
Patch: d2f0b960d07e/f3d0a109240c/e1bd3fac2baa/887bfae2732b/ea518b70ed5e/8e4212ecf071/c1671d2d2ef8/93aa71ad7379

Timelineinfo

05/21/2024 🔍
05/21/2024 +0 days 🔍
05/21/2024 +0 days 🔍
08/06/2025 +442 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2021-47337 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2021-47337
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-265639
CERT Bund: WID-SEC-2024-1197 - Linux Kernel: Mehrere Schwachstellen erm&ouml;glichen Denial of Service und unspezifische Angriffe

Entryinfo

Created: 05/21/2024 19:51
Updated: 08/06/2025 04:44
Changes: 05/21/2024 19:51 (58), 12/24/2024 17:26 (13), 08/06/2025 04:44 (7)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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