CVE-2021-46972
MEDIUMDescription
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ovl: fix leaked dentry Since commit 6815f479ca90 ("ovl: use only uppermetacopy state in ovl_lookup()"), overlayfs doesn't put temporary dentry when there is a metacopy error, which leads to dentry leaks when shutting down the related superblock: overlayfs: refusing to follow metacopy origin for (/file0) ... BUG: Dentry (____ptrval____){i=3f33,n=file3} still in use (1) [unmount of overlay overlay] ... WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 432 at umount_check.cold+0x107/0x14d CPU: 1 PID: 432 Comm: unmount-overlay Not tainted 5.12.0-rc5 #1 ... RIP: 0010:umount_check.cold+0x107/0x14d ... Call Trace: d_walk+0x28c/0x950 ? dentry_lru_isolate+0x2b0/0x2b0 ? __kasan_slab_free+0x12/0x20 do_one_tree+0x33/0x60 shrink_dcache_for_umount+0x78/0x1d0 generic_shutdown_super+0x70/0x440 kill_anon_super+0x3e/0x70 deactivate_locked_super+0xc4/0x160 deactivate_super+0xfa/0x140 cleanup_mnt+0x22e/0x370 __cleanup_mnt+0x1a/0x30 task_work_run+0x139/0x210 do_exit+0xb0c/0x2820 ? __kasan_check_read+0x1d/0x30 ? find_held_lock+0x35/0x160 ? lock_release+0x1b6/0x660 ? mm_update_next_owner+0xa20/0xa20 ? reacquire_held_locks+0x3f0/0x3f0 ? __sanitizer_cov_trace_const_cmp4+0x22/0x30 do_group_exit+0x135/0x380 __do_sys_exit_group.isra.0+0x20/0x20 __x64_sys_exit_group+0x3c/0x50 do_syscall_64+0x45/0x70 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae ... VFS: Busy inodes after unmount of overlay. Self-destruct in 5 seconds. Have a nice day... This fix has been tested with a syzkaller reproducer.
How to fix
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 16% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-401 (Missing Release of Memory (Memory Leak)) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2020-13934 | High | 7.5 | 64% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2016-6304 | High | 7.5 | 63% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2019-12265 | Medium | 5.3 | 55% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2001-0136 | Medium | 5.0 | 45% | - | - |
| CVE-2016-4232 | High | 7.5 | 36% | - | - |
| CVE-2001-0543 | Medium | 5.0 | 21% | - | - |
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Start freeThis product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-01-08.