CVE-2021-47566
HIGHDescription
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: proc/vmcore: fix clearing user buffer by properly using clear_user() To clear a user buffer we cannot simply use memset, we have to use clear_user(). With a virtio-mem device that registers a vmcore_cb and has some logically unplugged memory inside an added Linux memory block, I can easily trigger a BUG by copying the vmcore via "cp": systemd[1]: Starting Kdump Vmcore Save Service... kdump[420]: Kdump is using the default log level(3). kdump[453]: saving to /sysroot/var/crash/127.0.0.1-2021-11-11-14:59:22/ kdump[458]: saving vmcore-dmesg.txt to /sysroot/var/crash/127.0.0.1-2021-11-11-14:59:22/ kdump[465]: saving vmcore-dmesg.txt complete kdump[467]: saving vmcore BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 00007f2374e01000 #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode #PF: error_code(0x0003) - permissions violation PGD 7a523067 P4D 7a523067 PUD 7a528067 PMD 7a525067 PTE 800000007048f867 Oops: 0003 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI CPU: 0 PID: 468 Comm: cp Not tainted 5.15.0+ #6 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS rel-1.14.0-27-g64f37cc530f1-prebuilt.qemu.org 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:read_from_oldmem.part.0.cold+0x1d/0x86 Code: ff ff ff e8 05 ff fe ff e9 b9 e9 7f ff 48 89 de 48 c7 c7 38 3b 60 82 e8 f1 fe fe ff 83 fd 08 72 3c 49 8d 7d 08 4c 89 e9 89 e8 <49> c7 45 00 00 00 00 00 49 c7 44 05 f8 00 00 00 00 48 83 e7 f81 RSP: 0018:ffffc9000073be08 EFLAGS: 00010212 RAX: 0000000000001000 RBX: 00000000002fd000 RCX: 00007f2374e01000 RDX: 0000000000000001 RSI: 00000000ffffdfff RDI: 00007f2374e01008 RBP: 0000000000001000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffffc9000073bc50 R10: ffffc9000073bc48 R11: ffffffff829461a8 R12: 000000000000f000 R13: 00007f2374e01000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: ffff88807bd421e8 FS: 00007f2374e12140(0000) GS:ffff88807f000000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f2374e01000 CR3: 000000007a4aa000 CR4: 0000000000350eb0 Call Trace: read_vmcore+0x236/0x2c0 proc_reg_read+0x55/0xa0 vfs_read+0x95/0x190 ksys_read+0x4f/0xc0 do_syscall_64+0x3b/0x90 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae Some x86-64 CPUs have a CPU feature called "Supervisor Mode Access Prevention (SMAP)", which is used to detect wrong access from the kernel to user buffers like this: SMAP triggers a permissions violation on wrong access. In the x86-64 variant of clear_user(), SMAP is properly handled via clac()+stac(). To fix, properly use clear_user() when we're dealing with a user buffer.
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:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Low risk: more likely to be exploited than 14% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-22457 | Critical | 9.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2025-0282 | Critical | 9.0 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | - |
| CVE-2015-3113 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2021-20038 | Critical | 9.8 | 100% | KEV + Ransom | - |
| CVE-2023-4863 | High | 8.8 | 100% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2020-16040 | Medium | 6.5 | 100% | - | 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.