Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2021-46947

Medium · 5.5

CVSS

5.5

EPSS

0.2%

Published

Feb 27, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A driver bug in certain Linux network cards can make the whole system crash when someone checks network statistics with a common command.

Exploitation
Local Privilege
Attacker needs
Low Privilege
Complexity
Low
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Memory Corruption
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Incorrect initialization of efx->xdp_tx_queue_count to num_possible_cpus() without ensuring all slots in efx->xdp_tx_queues are populated during probe leads to NULL pointer dereference when traversing the array in statistics collection paths.

Why it matters to the business

Local denial of service on Linux systems using affected network adapters can interrupt network operations and require reboots, increasing operational overhead especially on high-core-count servers.

How an attack unfolds

A local process invokes ethtool statistics retrieval on an sfc interface; the driver walks the partially initialized XDP transmit queue array, dereferences a NULL entry, and triggers a kernel oops.

How to fix it

Apply the upstream fix that adjusts efx->xdp_tx_queue_count to the actual number of initialized queues after probing; update to a patched Linux kernel release containing commit adjusting the XDP queue count.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm the presence of the fix by inspecting the sfc driver source for the post-probe adjustment of xdp_tx_queue_count, then execute ethtool -S on the interface without triggering a NULL dereference oops.

Typical attack path

  1. Local user runs ethtool -S on sfc-managed interface
  2. efx_ethtool_get_stats iterates unpopulated xdp_tx_queues slots
  3. NULL pointer read at offset 0xf8
  4. Kernel panic or oops in supervisor mode

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and dmesg for oops traces containing efx_ethtool_get_stats, sfc module, and NULL pointer dereference at address 0xf8 during ethtool invocations.

  • efx_ethtool_get_stats+0x2ca/0x330 [sfc]
  • BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000f8
  • RIP: 0010:efx_ethtool_get_stats
  • Tainted: G O sfc

What your security team should do

  • Apply kernel updates containing the sfc XDP queue count fix on all systems exposing sfc interfaces
  • Restrict ethtool execution to privileged users via capabilities or SELinux policies
  • Monitor kernel logs for sfc-related NULL pointer oops entries

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sfc: adjust efx->xdp_tx_queue_count with the real number of initialized queues efx->xdp_tx_queue_count is initially initialized to num_possible_cpus() and is later used to allocate and traverse efx->xdp_tx_queues lookup array. However, we may end up not initializing all the array slots with real queues during probing. This results, for example, in a NULL pointer dereference, when running "# ethtool -S <iface>", similar to below [2570283.664955][T4126959] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000f8 [2570283.681283][T4126959] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [2570283.695678][T4126959] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [2570283.710013][T4126959] PGD 0 P4D 0 [2570283.721649][T4126959] Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP PTI [2570283.734108][T4126959] CPU: 23 PID: 4126959 Comm: ethtool Tainted: G O 5.10.20-cloudflare-2021.3.1 #1 [2570283.752641][T4126959] Hardware name: <redacted> [2570283.781408][T4126959] RIP: 0010:efx_ethtool_get_stats+0x2ca/0x330 [sfc] [2570283.796073][T4126959] Code: 00 85 c0 74 39 48 8b 95 a8 0f 00 00 48 85 d2 74 2d 31 c0 eb 07 48 8b 95 a8 0f 00 00 48 63 c8 49 83 c4 08 83 c0 01 48 8b 14 ca <48> 8b 92 f8 00 00 00 49 89 54 24 f8 39 85 a0 0f 00 00 77 d7 48 8b [2570283.831259][T4126959] RSP: 0018:ffffb79a77657ce8 EFLAGS: 00010202 [2570283.845121][T4126959] RAX: 0000000000000019 RBX: ffffb799cd0c9280 RCX: 0000000000000018 [2570283.860872][T4126959] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff96dd970ce000 RDI: 0000000000000005 [2570283.876525][T4126959] RBP: ffff96dd86f0a000 R08: ffff96dd970ce480 R09: 000000000000005f [2570283.892014][T4126959] R10: ffffb799cd0c9fff R11: ffffb799cd0c9000 R12: ffffb799cd0c94f8 [2570283.907406][T4126959] R13: ffffffffc11b1090 R14: ffff96dd970ce000 R15: ffffffffc11cd66c [2570283.922705][T4126959] FS: 00007fa7723f8740(0000) GS:ffff96f51fac0000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [2570283.938848][T4126959] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [2570283.952524][T4126959] CR2: 00000000000000f8 CR3: 0000001a73e6e006 CR4: 00000000007706e0 [2570283.967529][T4126959] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [2570283.982400][T4126959] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [2570283.997308][T4126959] PKRU: 55555554 [2570284.007649][T4126959] Call Trace: [2570284.017598][T4126959] dev_ethtool+0x1832/0x2830 Fix this by adjusting efx->xdp_tx_queue_count after probing to reflect the true value of initialized slots in efx->xdp_tx_queues.

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 5.4.0-9.12
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.15 0 5.15.0-1014.18~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.4.0-1006.6
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.15 0 5.15.0-1007.8~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.15 0 5.15.0-1019.24~20.04.1.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 5.4.0-1007.10
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.15 0 5.15.0-1006.9~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.4.0-1008.9
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.15 0 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.2
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.4.0-1003.4
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.15 0 5.15.0-1033.36~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg-5.15 0 5.15.0-1003.5~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-iot 0 5.4.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.4.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.15 0 5.15.0-33.34~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.4.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.15 0 5.15.0-1007.9~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.4.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.15 0 5.15.0-1015.17~20.04.1
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.4.0-1020.24
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux 0 5.13.0-19.19
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-allwinner-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.13.0-1005.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-aws-6.5 0 6.5.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.13.0-1006.7
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-6.5 0 6.5.0-1007.7~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 5.15.0-1019.24.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-azure-fde-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.13.0-1005.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gcp-6.5 0 6.5.0-1010.10~22.04.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gke 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.15.0-1001.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-hwe-6.5 0 6.5.0-14.14~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iotg 0 5.15.0-1004.6
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.13.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 5.15.0-22.22
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.5 0 6.5.0-14.14.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 5.15.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.5 0 6.5.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-nvidia-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-5.17 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.1 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oem-6.5 0 6.5.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.13.0-1008.10
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-oracle-6.5 0 6.5.0-1013.13~22.04.4
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.13.0-1008.9
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-riscv-6.5 0 6.5.0-17.17.1.1~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-5.19 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-starfive-6.5 0 6.5.0-1007.8~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-xilinx-zynqmp 0 5.15.0-1022.26
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux 0 6.5.0-9.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-aws 0 6.5.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-azure 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 6.5.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gke 0 6.8.0-1003.5
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 6.8.0-1001.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 6.5.0-1009.9
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-lowlatency 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-nvidia-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-1009.9.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oem-6.8 0 6.8.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 6.5.0-1010.10
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 6.5.0-1005.7
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-aws-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-azure-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gke-4.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gke-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-gkeop-5.4 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-aws-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fde 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gke 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-gke-5.15 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-hwe-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-intel-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.10 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.14 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oem-5.6 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.13 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-raspi2 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.11 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS linux-riscv-5.8 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 4.15.0-2000.4
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 4.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.15.0-1027.32
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 4.15.0-2013.14
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.4.0-1022.22+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.4.0-1026.30
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS-updates:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:16.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.4.0-1003.3
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 4.15.0-2000.4
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 4.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-fips 0 4.15.0-1011.12
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 4.15.0-1001.1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-aws-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips2
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-azure-fips 0 5.4.0-1022.22+fips1
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-fips 0 5.4.0-1007.8
Ubuntu:Pro:FIPS:20.04:LTS linux-gcp-fips 0 5.4.0-1021.21+fips1

Related vulnerabilities