CVE-2021-47555
MEDIUMDescription
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: vlan: fix underflow for the real_dev refcnt Inject error before dev_hold(real_dev) in register_vlan_dev(), and execute the following testcase: ip link add dev dummy1 type dummy ip link add name dummy1.100 link dummy1 type vlan id 100 ip link del dev dummy1 When the dummy netdevice is removed, we will get a WARNING as following: ======================================================================= refcount_t: decrement hit 0; leaking memory. WARNING: CPU: 2 PID: 0 at lib/refcount.c:31 refcount_warn_saturate+0xbf/0x1e0 and an endless loop of: ======================================================================= unregister_netdevice: waiting for dummy1 to become free. Usage count = -1073741824 That is because dev_put(real_dev) in vlan_dev_free() be called without dev_hold(real_dev) in register_vlan_dev(). It makes the refcnt of real_dev underflow. Move the dev_hold(real_dev) to vlan_dev_init() which is the call-back of ndo_init(). That makes dev_hold() and dev_put() for vlan's real_dev symmetrical.
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 11% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-191 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2014-0497 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2020-36221 | High | 7.5 | 84% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-36228 | High | 7.5 | 83% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-31102 | High | 7.8 | 71% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-38063 | Critical | 9.8 | 71% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2017-14496 | High | 7.5 | 66% | - | Fix |
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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 2025-09-18.