Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2021-47222

None

CVSS

—

EPSS

0.2%

Published

May 21, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A problem in how Linux manages certain network connections could let attackers crash servers or interfere with network traffic.

Exploitation
Adjacent Network
Attacker needs
Local User
Complexity
Moderate
Impact
Denial Of Service
Component
OS kernel
Class
Use After Free
Remediation
Upgrade
Effort
Medium
Patch risk
Low

What it actually does

Incorrect dst_clone usage in bridge egress VLAN tunnel handling can lead to zero or negative refcounts on dst entries, triggering use-after-free conditions, WARN_ON in dst_hold, and refcount underflows during packet processing.

Why it matters to the business

Systems running affected Linux kernels with bridge VLAN tunneling enabled risk crashes, denial of service, or potential code execution, disrupting network services and requiring urgent patching to maintain uptime.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker sends crafted network packets that traverse a bridge with VLAN tunnel egress enabled; the vulnerable code path in br_handle_egress_vlan_tunnel performs unsafe dst operations, leading to memory corruption that can be leveraged for further exploitation.

How to fix it

Apply the upstream fix that replaces dst_clone with dst_hold_safe and adds a successful reference check before use; update to a patched Linux kernel release containing this change.

How to confirm the fix worked

Monitor kernel logs for absence of the dst_hold WARN_ON and dst_release underflow messages after applying the patch; verify bridge VLAN tunnel functionality under load.

Typical attack path

  1. Configure or identify target systems using Linux bridge with VLAN tunnels
  2. Craft and transmit packets that trigger egress tunnel handling
  3. Trigger refcount mishandling to cause underflow or use-after-free
  4. Leverage resulting kernel state for denial of service or privilege escalation

How to detect it

Search kernel logs and dmesg output for br_handle_egress_vlan_tunnel warnings, dst_release underflow messages, and refcnt errors; correlate with network bridge activity.

  • br_handle_egress_vlan_tunnel+0x10b/0x134
  • dst_release: dst:
  • dst_release underflow
  • WARNING: CPU:.*br_handle_egress_vlan_tunnel

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on systems using bridge networking with VLAN tunnels
  • Review network configurations to identify bridge VLAN tunnel usage
  • Enable kernel hardening features such as refcount debugging where available
  • Monitor for related kernel oops or warning logs in production environments

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: bridge: fix vlan tunnel dst refcnt when egressing The egress tunnel code uses dst_clone() and directly sets the result which is wrong because the entry might have 0 refcnt or be already deleted, causing number of problems. It also triggers the WARN_ON() in dst_hold()[1] when a refcnt couldn't be taken. Fix it by using dst_hold_safe() and checking if a reference was actually taken before setting the dst. [1] dmesg WARN_ON log and following refcnt errors WARNING: CPU: 5 PID: 38 at include/net/dst.h:230 br_handle_egress_vlan_tunnel+0x10b/0x134 [bridge] Modules linked in: 8021q garp mrp bridge stp llc bonding ipv6 virtio_net CPU: 5 PID: 38 Comm: ksoftirqd/5 Kdump: loaded Tainted: G W 5.13.0-rc3+ #360 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.14.0-1.fc33 04/01/2014 RIP: 0010:br_handle_egress_vlan_tunnel+0x10b/0x134 [bridge] Code: e8 85 bc 01 e1 45 84 f6 74 90 45 31 f6 85 db 48 c7 c7 a0 02 19 a0 41 0f 94 c6 31 c9 31 d2 44 89 f6 e8 64 bc 01 e1 85 db 75 02 <0f> 0b 31 c9 31 d2 44 89 f6 48 c7 c7 70 02 19 a0 e8 4b bc 01 e1 49 RSP: 0018:ffff8881003d39e8 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: ffffffffa01902a0 RBP: ffff8881040c6700 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000001 R10: 2ce93d0054fe0d00 R11: 54fe0d00000e0000 R12: ffff888109515000 R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000401 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff88822bf40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f42ba70f030 CR3: 0000000109926000 CR4: 00000000000006e0 Call Trace: br_handle_vlan+0xbc/0xca [bridge] __br_forward+0x23/0x164 [bridge] deliver_clone+0x41/0x48 [bridge] br_handle_frame_finish+0x36f/0x3aa [bridge] ? skb_dst+0x2e/0x38 [bridge] ? br_handle_ingress_vlan_tunnel+0x3e/0x1c8 [bridge] ? br_handle_frame_finish+0x3aa/0x3aa [bridge] br_handle_frame+0x2c3/0x377 [bridge] ? __skb_pull+0x33/0x51 ? vlan_do_receive+0x4f/0x36a ? br_handle_frame_finish+0x3aa/0x3aa [bridge] __netif_receive_skb_core+0x539/0x7c6 ? __list_del_entry_valid+0x16e/0x1c2 __netif_receive_skb_list_core+0x6d/0xd6 netif_receive_skb_list_internal+0x1d9/0x1fa gro_normal_list+0x22/0x3e dev_gro_receive+0x55b/0x600 ? detach_buf_split+0x58/0x140 napi_gro_receive+0x94/0x12e virtnet_poll+0x15d/0x315 [virtio_net] __napi_poll+0x2c/0x1c9 net_rx_action+0xe6/0x1fb __do_softirq+0x115/0x2d8 run_ksoftirqd+0x18/0x20 smpboot_thread_fn+0x183/0x19c ? smpboot_unregister_percpu_thread+0x66/0x66 kthread+0x10a/0x10f ? kthread_mod_delayed_work+0xb6/0xb6 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 ---[ end trace 49f61b07f775fd2b ]--- dst_release: dst:00000000c02d677a refcnt:-1 dst_release underflow

Affected packages

Ecosystem Package Introduced Fixed
Debian:11 linux 0 5.10.46-1
Debian:12 linux 0 5.10.46-1
Debian:13 linux 0 5.10.46-1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_65 0 1-8.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5-LTSS kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server LTSS Extended Security 12 SP5 kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.247.1
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux 0 3.11.0-12.19
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.4.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:14.04:LTS linux-lts-xenial 0 4.4.0-13.29~14.04.1
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux 0 4.4.0-2.16
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.4.0-1001.10
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:16.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 4.4.0-1004.9
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux 0 4.15.0-156.163
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-aws 0 4.15.0-1111.118
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-aws-5.4 0 5.4.0-1055.58~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-4.15 0 4.15.0-1123.136
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-azure-5.4 0 5.4.0-1056.58~18.04.1
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-4.15 0 4.15.0-1108.122
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-gcp-5.4 0 5.4.0-1051.55~18.04.1
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-5.4 0 5.4.0-81.91~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-hwe-edge 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-ibm-5.4 0 5.4.0-1010.11~18.04.2
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 4.15.0-1099.101
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oem 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 4.15.0-1080.88
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.0 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.3 0 No fix
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-oracle-5.4 0 5.4.0-1053.57~18.04.1
Ubuntu:18.04:LTS linux-raspi-5.4 0 5.4.0-1042.46~18.04.3
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux 0 5.4.0-81.91
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-aws 0 5.4.0-1055.58
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-azure 0 5.4.0-1056.58
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-bluefield 0 5.4.0-1019.22
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 5.4.0-1051.55
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-gkeop 0 5.4.0-1022.23
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-kvm 0 5.4.0-1045.47
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-oracle 0 5.4.0-1053.57
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 No fix
Ubuntu:20.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.4.0-1042.46
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-aws-6.8 0 6.8.0-1009.9~22.04.2
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-6.8 0 6.8.0-1008.8~22.04.1
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-gcp-6.8 0 6.8.0-1010.11~22.04.1
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-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38~22.04.1
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-ibm 0 5.15.0-1002.2
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-intel-iot-realtime 0 5.15.0-1021.26
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-lowlatency-hwe-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.2
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-oracle-6.8 0 6.8.0-1006.6~22.04.3
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-raspi 0 5.13.0-1008.9
Ubuntu:22.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 No fix
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-riscv-6.8 0 6.8.0-38.38.1~22.04.1
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:22.04:LTS:for:NVIDIA:BlueField linux-bluefield 0 5.15.0-1011.13
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-6.11 0 6.11.0-1007.7
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-raspi-realtime 0 No fix
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-raspi-realtime 0 6.7.0-2001.1
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-realtime 0 6.8.0-1008.19
Ubuntu:24.04:LTS linux-riscv 0 6.5.0-9.9.1
Ubuntu:24.10 linux 0 6.8.0-31.31
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-aws 0 6.8.0-1008.8
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-azure 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-gcp 0 6.8.0-1007.7
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-lowlatency 0 6.8.0-31.31.1
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-oracle 0 6.8.0-1005.5
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-raspi 0 6.8.0-1004.4
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-realtime 0 6.11.0-1001.1
Ubuntu:24.10 linux-riscv 0 6.8.0-31.31.1
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS linux-azure 0 4.15.0-1123.136~14.04.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-aws-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-aws-hwe 0 4.15.0-1111.118~16.04.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-azure 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-azure 0 4.15.0-1123.136~16.04.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-gcp 0 4.15.0-1108.122~16.04.1
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 No fix
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS linux-hwe 0 4.15.0-156.163~16.04.1

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