Linux Kernel up to 5.10.82/5.13/5.14/5.15.5 sched bringup_cpu initialization

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Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.82/5.13/5.14/5.15.5. The affected element is the function bringup_cpu of the component sched. The manipulation results in initialization. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2021-47553. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Linux Kernel up to 5.10.82/5.13/5.14/5.15.5. Affected is the function bringup_cpu of the component sched. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a initialization vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-665. The product does not initialize or incorrectly initializes a resource, which might leave the resource in an unexpected state when it is accessed or used. The impact remains unknown. CVE summarizes:

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/scs: Reset task stack state in bringup_cpu() To hot unplug a CPU, the idle task on that CPU calls a few layers of C code before finally leaving the kernel. When KASAN is in use, poisoned shadow is left around for each of the active stack frames, and when shadow call stacks are in use. When shadow call stacks (SCS) are in use the task's saved SCS SP is left pointing at an arbitrary point within the task's shadow call stack. When a CPU is offlined than onlined back into the kernel, this stale state can adversely affect execution. Stale KASAN shadow can alias new stackframes and result in bogus KASAN warnings. A stale SCS SP is effectively a memory leak, and prevents a portion of the shadow call stack being used. Across a number of hotplug cycles the idle task's entire shadow call stack can become unusable. We previously fixed the KASAN issue in commit: e1b77c92981a5222 ("sched/kasan: remove stale KASAN poison after hotplug") ... by removing any stale KASAN stack poison immediately prior to onlining a CPU. Subsequently in commit: f1a0a376ca0c4ef1 ("sched/core: Initialize the idle task with preemption disabled") ... the refactoring left the KASAN and SCS cleanup in one-time idle thread initialization code rather than something invoked prior to each CPU being onlined, breaking both as above. We fixed SCS (but not KASAN) in commit: 63acd42c0d4942f7 ("sched/scs: Reset the shadow stack when idle_task_exit") ... but as this runs in the context of the idle task being offlined it's potentially fragile. To fix these consistently and more robustly, reset the SCS SP and KASAN shadow of a CPU's idle task immediately before we online that CPU in bringup_cpu(). This ensures the idle task always has a consistent state when it is running, and removes the need to so so when exiting an idle task. Whenever any thread is created, dup_task_struct() will give the task a stack which is free of KASAN shadow, and initialize the task's SCS SP, so there's no need to specially initialize either for idle thread within init_idle(), as this was only necessary to handle hotplug cycles. I've tested this on arm64 with: * gcc 11.1.0, defconfig +KASAN_INLINE, KASAN_STACK * clang 12.0.0, defconfig +KASAN_INLINE, KASAN_STACK, SHADOW_CALL_STACK ... offlining and onlining CPUS with: | while true; do | for C in /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/online; do | echo 0 > $C; | echo 1 > $C; | done | done

The advisory is shared for download at git.kernel.org. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2021-47553 since 05/24/2024. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 5.10.83 or 5.15.6 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch e6ee7abd6bfe/229c555260cb/dce1ca0525bf 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.

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Productinfo

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.6
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.5

VulDB Base Score: 5.5
VulDB Temp Score: 5.3
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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

Exploitinginfo

Class: Initialization
CWE: CWE-665
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 5.10.83/5.15.6
Patch: e6ee7abd6bfe/229c555260cb/dce1ca0525bf

Timelineinfo

05/24/2024 🔍
05/24/2024 +0 days 🔍
05/24/2024 +0 days 🔍
09/19/2025 +483 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: kernel.org

Advisory: git.kernel.org
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2021-47553 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2021-47553
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-266184

Entryinfo

Created: 05/24/2024 18:31
Updated: 09/19/2025 03:56
Changes: 05/24/2024 18:31 (57), 09/19/2025 03:56 (12)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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