Cloudanix VulnDB

CVE-2021-47238

Medium · 5.5

CVSS

5.5

EPSS

0.2%

Published

May 21, 2024

CISA due date

—

Cloudanix analysis

Schedule a fix SSVC: Track

A bug in the Linux kernel can cause memory to slowly leak away on servers that use certain network features, eventually making systems slower or forcing restarts.

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

Memory leak in Linux kernel IGMP multicast source list handling: ip_mc_clear_src is not called in ip_mc_destroy_dev after link down changes, leaving in_dev->mc_list->sources allocations unreferenced when inetdev_by_index fails during socket close.

Why it matters to the business

Gradual memory exhaustion on Linux systems handling IPv4 multicast traffic can degrade performance or trigger out-of-memory conditions on long-running servers and network appliances, increasing operational overhead especially where kernel updates are delayed.

How an attack unfolds

A local attacker opens a raw IPv4 socket, issues setsockopt calls to add multicast sources via ip_mc_add_src, then triggers device destruction or socket release; the missing clear in the destroy path prevents ip_mc_del1_src from freeing the sources, leaking kernel memory.

How to fix it

Upgrade the Linux kernel to a version containing commit bfe01a5ba2490f299e1d2d5508cbbbadd897bbe9 or later; rebuild and reboot with the patched kernel. Where live patching is available, apply vendor Kpatch or Ksplice equivalents.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the running kernel Git commit or package version includes bfe01a5ba2490f299e1d2d5508cbbbadd897bbe9; enable kmemleak and inspect for unreferenced igmp source objects; confirm no new leaks after setsockopt sequences on test interfaces.

Typical attack path

  1. Local process opens raw IPv4 socket and calls setsockopt to manipulate IGMP sources
  2. ip_mc_add1_src allocates kernel memory for source records
  3. Network device is destroyed or link state changes without full source cleanup
  4. Socket close path via ip_mc_drop_socket fails to locate and release the allocations
  5. Unreferenced objects accumulate in slab memory

How to detect it

Inspect kernel logs for memory leak warnings referencing igmp.c or ip_mc_add1_src; use kmemleak or similar tools to scan for unreferenced 32-byte objects allocated from ip_mc_add_src; review audit logs for unusual raw socket setsockopt activity by unprivileged processes.

What your security team should do

  • Prioritize kernel updates on all systems exposing raw sockets or multicast
  • Monitor slab memory usage and enable kernel memory leak detectors in production
  • Restrict unprivileged access to raw sockets via sysctl or capabilities where feasible
  • Include this fix in the next patch window given the 882-day disclosure window

The record

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: ipv4: fix memory leak in ip_mc_add1_src BUG: memory leak unreferenced object 0xffff888101bc4c00 (size 32): comm "syz-executor527", pid 360, jiffies 4294807421 (age 19.329s) hex dump (first 32 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ac 14 14 bb 00 00 02 00 ................ backtrace: [<00000000f17c5244>] kmalloc include/linux/slab.h:558 [inline] [<00000000f17c5244>] kzalloc include/linux/slab.h:688 [inline] [<00000000f17c5244>] ip_mc_add1_src net/ipv4/igmp.c:1971 [inline] [<00000000f17c5244>] ip_mc_add_src+0x95f/0xdb0 net/ipv4/igmp.c:2095 [<000000001cb99709>] ip_mc_source+0x84c/0xea0 net/ipv4/igmp.c:2416 [<0000000052cf19ed>] do_ip_setsockopt net/ipv4/ip_sockglue.c:1294 [inline] [<0000000052cf19ed>] ip_setsockopt+0x114b/0x30c0 net/ipv4/ip_sockglue.c:1423 [<00000000477edfbc>] raw_setsockopt+0x13d/0x170 net/ipv4/raw.c:857 [<00000000e75ca9bb>] __sys_setsockopt+0x158/0x270 net/socket.c:2117 [<00000000bdb993a8>] __do_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2128 [inline] [<00000000bdb993a8>] __se_sys_setsockopt net/socket.c:2125 [inline] [<00000000bdb993a8>] __x64_sys_setsockopt+0xba/0x150 net/socket.c:2125 [<000000006a1ffdbd>] do_syscall_64+0x40/0x80 arch/x86/entry/common.c:47 [<00000000b11467c4>] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae In commit 24803f38a5c0 ("igmp: do not remove igmp souce list info when set link down"), the ip_mc_clear_src() in ip_mc_destroy_dev() was removed, because it was also called in igmpv3_clear_delrec(). Rough callgraph: inetdev_destroy -> ip_mc_destroy_dev -> igmpv3_clear_delrec -> ip_mc_clear_src -> RCU_INIT_POINTER(dev->ip_ptr, NULL) However, ip_mc_clear_src() called in igmpv3_clear_delrec() doesn't release in_dev->mc_list->sources. And RCU_INIT_POINTER() assigns the NULL to dev->ip_ptr. As a result, in_dev cannot be obtained through inetdev_by_index() and then in_dev->mc_list->sources cannot be released by ip_mc_del1_src() in the sock_close. Rough call sequence goes like: sock_close -> __sock_release -> inet_release -> ip_mc_drop_socket -> inetdev_by_index -> ip_mc_leave_src -> ip_mc_del_src -> ip_mc_del1_src So we still need to call ip_mc_clear_src() in ip_mc_destroy_dev() to free in_dev->mc_list->sources.

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 High Availability Extension 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Live Patching 12 SP5 kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_57 0 1-8.3.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-rt 0 4.12.14-10.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-rt_debug 0 4.12.14-10.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-source-rt 0 4.12.14-10.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-syms-rt 0 4.12.14-10.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-azure 0 4.12.14-16.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 4.12.14-16.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 4.12.14-16.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-azure 0 4.12.14-16.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-source 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-source-azure 0 4.12.14-16.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-syms 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 kernel-syms-azure 0 4.12.14-16.188.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 kernel-docs 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12 SP5 kernel-obs-build 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 SP5 kernel-default 0 4.12.14-122.219.1
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

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