CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2021-47189

MEDIUM
6.3
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix memory ordering between normal and ordered work functions Ordered work functions aren't guaranteed to be handled by the same thread which executed the normal work functions. The only way execution between normal/ordered functions is synchronized is via the WORK_DONE_BIT, unfortunately the used bitops don't guarantee any ordering whatsoever. This manifested as seemingly inexplicable crashes on ARM64, where async_chunk::inode is seen as non-null in async_cow_submit which causes submit_compressed_extents to be called and crash occurs because async_chunk::inode suddenly became NULL. The call trace was similar to: pc : submit_compressed_extents+0x38/0x3d0 lr : async_cow_submit+0x50/0xd0 sp : ffff800015d4bc20 <registers omitted for brevity> Call trace: submit_compressed_extents+0x38/0x3d0 async_cow_submit+0x50/0xd0 run_ordered_work+0xc8/0x280 btrfs_work_helper+0x98/0x250 process_one_work+0x1f0/0x4ac worker_thread+0x188/0x504 kthread+0x110/0x114 ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18 Fix this by adding respective barrier calls which ensure that all accesses preceding setting of WORK_DONE_BIT are strictly ordered before setting the flag. At the same time add a read barrier after reading of WORK_DONE_BIT in run_ordered_work which ensures all subsequent loads would be strictly ordered after reading the bit. This in turn ensures are all accesses before WORK_DONE_BIT are going to be strictly ordered before any access that can occur in ordered_func.

How to fix

Remediation Available
linuxDebian
Fixed in:5.10.84-1CVE-2021-47189
Fixed in:5.15.5-1CVE-2021-47189
Fixed in:5.15.5-1CVE-2021-47189
Fixed in:5.15.5-1CVE-2021-47189

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

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityLow

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Exploit Intelligence

0.92%probability of exploitation in 30 days
56thpercentile

Moderate risk: more likely to be exploited than 56% of all known CVEs.

References

Embed a live status badge for CVE-2021-47189
CVE-2021-47189 severity badge

Markdown

[![CVE-2021-47189](https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2021-47189.svg)](https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2021-47189)

HTML

<a href="https://tridentstack.com/cve/CVE-2021-47189"><img src="https://tridentstack.com/cve/badge/CVE-2021-47189.svg" alt="CVE-2021-47189"></a>

Find and fix vulnerabilities across your fleet

TridentStack Control continuously scans your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet for known vulnerabilities, prioritizes them by severity and active exploitation, and patches them automatically.

Start free

This 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 2025-04-30.