Vulnerability · Published Feb 27, 2024 · Assigned by Linux
CVE-2021-46921locking/qrwlock: Fix ordering in queued_write_lock_slowpath()
High 7.8
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in Linux from Linux. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 15% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: locking/qrwlock: Fix ordering in queued_write_lock_slowpath() While this code is executed with the wait_lock held, a reader can acquire the lock without holding wait_lock. The writer side loops checking the value with the atomic_cond_read_acquire(), but only truly acquires the lock when the compare-and-exchange is completed successfully which isn’t ordered. This exposes the window between the acquire and the cmpxchg to an A-B-A problem which allows reads following the lock acquisition to observe values speculatively before the write lock is truly acquired. We've seen a problem in epoll where the reader does a xchg while holding the read lock, but the writer can see a value change out from under it. Writer | Reader -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ep_scan_ready_list() | |- write_lock_irq() | |- queued_write_lock_slowpath() | |- atomic_cond_read_acquire() | | read_lock_irqsave(&ep->lock, flags); --> (observes value before unlock) | chain_epi_lockless() | | epi->next = xchg(&ep->ovflist, epi); | | read_unlock_irqrestore(&ep->lock, flags); | | | atomic_cmpxchg_relaxed() | |-- READ_ONCE(ep->ovflist); | A core can order the read of the ovflist ahead of the atomic_cmpxchg_relaxed(). Switching the cmpxchg to use acquire semantics addresses this issue at which point the atomic_cond_read can be switched to use relaxed semantics. [peterz: use try_cmpxchg()]
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | linux | 5.10.38-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Debian:13 | linux | 5.10.38-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Debian:14 | linux | 5.10.38-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-allwinner-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-aws-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-azure-fde-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-gcp-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-intel-iot-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-nvidia-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-5.17 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.0 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-oem-6.1 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | linux-raspi-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-realtime | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-riscv-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-5.19 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | linux-starfive-6.2 | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46921 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | b519b56e378ee82caf9b079b04f5db87dedc3251 – before 5902f9453a313be8fe78cbd7e7ca9dba9319fc6eb519b56e378ee82caf9b079b04f5db87dedc3251 – before 82808cc026811fbc3ecf0c0b267a12a339eead56b519b56e378ee82caf9b079b04f5db87dedc3251 – before 82fa9ced35d88581cffa4a1c856fc41fca96d80ab519b56e378ee82caf9b079b04f5db87dedc3251 – before d558fcdb17139728347bccc60a16af3e639649d2b519b56e378ee82caf9b079b04f5db87dedc3251 – before 84a24bf8c52e66b7ac89ada5e3cfbe72d65c1896 |
| Linux | Linux | 4.15 |
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/5902f9453a313be8fe78cbd7e7ca9dba9319fc6e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/82808cc026811fbc3ecf0c0b267a12a339eead56
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/82fa9ced35d88581cffa4a1c856fc41fca96d80a
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d558fcdb17139728347bccc60a16af3e639649d2
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84a24bf8c52e66b7ac89ada5e3cfbe72d65c1896