medium CVSS 5.5

CVE-2021-47585·Kernel vulnerability

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix memory leak in __add_inode_ref() Line 1169 (#3) allocates a memory chunk for victim_name by kmalloc(), but when the function returns in line 1184 (#4) victim_name allocated by line 1169 (#3) is not freed, which will lead to a memory leak. There is a similar snippet of code in this function as allocating a memory chunk for victim_name in line 1104 (#1) as well as releasing the memory in line 1116 (#2). We should kfree() victim_name when the return value of backref_in_log() is less than zero and before the function returns in line 1184 (#4). 1057 static inline int __add_inode_ref(struct btrfs_trans_handle *trans, 1058 struct btrfs_root *root, 1059 struct btrfs_path *path, 1060 struct btrfs_root *log_root, 1061 struct btrfs_inode *dir, 1062 struct btrfs_inode *inode, 1063 u64 inode_objectid, u64 parent_objectid, 1064 u64 ref_index, char *name, int namelen, 1065 int *search_done) 1066 { 1104 victim_name = kmalloc(victim_name_len, GFP_NOFS); // #1: kmalloc (victim_name-1) 1105 if (!victim_name) 1106 return -ENOMEM; 1112 ret = backref_in_log(log_root, &search_key, 1113 parent_objectid, victim_name, 1114 victim_name_len); 1115 if (ret < 0) { 1116 kfree(victim_name); // #2: kfree (victim_name-1) 1117 return ret; 1118 } else if (!ret) { 1169 victim_name = kmalloc(victim_name_len, GFP_NOFS); // #3: kmalloc (victim_name-2) 1170 if (!victim_name) 1171 return -ENOMEM; 1180 ret = backref_in_log(log_root, &search_key, 1181 parent_objectid, victim_name, 1182 victim_name_len); 1183 if (ret < 0) { 1184 return ret; // #4: missing kfree (victim_name-2) 1185 } else if (!ret) { 1241 return 0; 1242 }

Severity: medium
Software: Kernel
Fixed in: 5.15.11
Published: 2024-06-19

Affected versions

From: 5.11

Until: 5.15.11

Fixed in: 5.15.11

How to fix this CVE

Update the Linux kernel to version 5.15.11 or later to patch a memory leak in the Btrfs filesystem's inode reference handling. This vulnerability causes kernel memory to not be properly freed during specific error conditions, potentially leading to denial of service over time. Systems running Kernel versions 5.11 through 5.15.10 should prioritize this update.

sudo dnf update kernel kernel-devel

Defensia detects this vulnerability

How to check if you are affected

Step 1: Check your kernel version with `uname -r` and compare against the affected range (5.11 to 5.15.10)
Step 2: Verify Btrfs is in use on your system by running `mount | grep btrfs` to identify affected filesystems
Step 3: Monitor system memory usage over time with `free -h` or `watch -n 5 free -h` to detect gradual memory depletion patterns
Step 4: After applying the update, confirm the new kernel version loaded by running `uname -r` and rebooting if necessary with `sudo reboot`

FAQ

What is CVE-2021-47585?

A memory leak in the Linux kernel's Btrfs filesystem implementation where the __add_inode_ref() function fails to release allocated memory when certain error conditions occur during inode reference processing, potentially exhausting system memory.

Is CVE-2021-47585 being actively exploited?

No, this vulnerability is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog and no public exploits are currently available. It requires local filesystem operations and cannot be triggered remotely.

What versions of Kernel are affected by CVE-2021-47585?

Linux kernel versions 5.11 through 5.15.10 are vulnerable. The vulnerability was fixed in version 5.15.11 and later.

How do I check if my server is vulnerable to CVE-2021-47585?

Run `uname -r` to display your kernel version. If it shows a version between 5.11 and 5.15.10 and you use Btrfs (check with `mount | grep btrfs`), your system is vulnerable.

Does Defensia detect CVE-2021-47585?

Yes — Defensia's CVE advisory scanner compares installed package versions against the NVD database. If Kernel is installed on a monitored server, CVE-2021-47585 will appear in your dashboard with remediation steps.

Related Kernel CVEs

CVE-2026-100075CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: RDMA/srpt: Fix srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() unwind counters When srpt_alloc_rw_ctxs() fails partway through a multi-buffer indirect descriptor, the unwind path destroys RDMA contexts but leaves stale n_rw_ctx and n_rdma values (and a dangling rw_ctxs pointer). Later sq_wr_avail accounting in srpt_queue_response() or srpt_write_pending() can then subtract the wrong number of send queue credits. Reset the counters and clear rw_ctxs after freeing the heap allocation before returning an error.

CVE-2026-64397CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: serialize QUERY_DIRECTORY requests per file smb2_query_dir() stores a pointer to its stack-allocated private data in the ksmbd_file readdir_data. Concurrent QUERY_DIRECTORY requests using the same file handle can overwrite this pointer while an iterate_dir() callback is still using it, resulting in a stack use-after-free. Add a per-file mutex and hold it while accessing the shared directory enumeration state. The lock covers scan restart, dot entry state, readdir_data setup and iteration, and response construction. This prevents another request from replacing readdir_data.private before the current request has finished using it and also serializes the shared file position.

CVE-2026-64399CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: add permission checks for FSCTL_DUPLICATE_EXTENTS_TO_FILE The FSCTL_DUPLICATE_EXTENTS_TO_FILE arm of smb2_ioctl() overwrites the destination file's data via vfs_clone_file_range() with neither the share-level KSMBD_TREE_CONN_FLAG_WRITABLE check nor a per-handle fp->daccess check that the other write-bearing arms carry. A client can overwrite destination data on a read-only share, or from a handle opened with only FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES (which still yields an FMODE_WRITE filp). FILE_WRITE_ATTRIBUTES-only destination handle overwrote the file's data via the clone. Add both checks, matching the FSCTL_SET_SPARSE permission fix; require FILE_WRITE_DATA since this writes data.

CVE-2026-64066CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfs: Fix netfs_read_to_pagecache() to pause on subreq failure Fix netfs_read_to_pagecache() so that it pauses the generation of new subrequests if an already-issued subrequest fails.

CVE-2026-52924CVSS 9.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sctp: purge outqueue on stale COOKIE-ECHO handling sctp_stream_update() is only invoked when the association is moved into COOKIE_WAIT during association setup/reconfiguration. In this path, the outbound stream scheduler state (stream->out_curr) is expected to be clean, since no user data should have been transmitted yet unless the state machine has already partially progressed. However, a corner case exists in sctp_sf_do_5_2_6_stale(): when a Stale Cookie ERROR is received, the association is rolled back from COOKIE_ECHOED to COOKIE_WAIT. In this scenario, user data may already have been queued and even bundled with the COOKIE-ECHO chunk. During the rollback, sctp_stream_update() frees the old stream table and installs a new one, but it does not invalidate stream->out_curr. As a result, out_curr may still point to a freed sctp_stream_out entry from the previous stream state. Later, SCTP scheduler dequeue paths (FCFS, RR, PRIO, etc.) rely on stream->out_curr->ext, which can lead to use-after-free once the old stream state has been released via sctp_stream_free(). This results in crashes such as (reported by Yuqi): BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in sctp_sched_fcfs_dequeue+0x13a/0x140 Read of size 8 at addr ff1100004d4d3208 by task mini_poc/9312 CPU: 1 UID: 1001 PID: 9312 Comm: mini_poc Not tainted 7.1.0-rc1-00305-gbd3a4795d574 #5 PREEMPT(full) sctp_sched_fcfs_dequeue+0x13a/0x140 sctp_outq_flush+0x1603/0x33e0 sctp_do_sm+0x31c9/0x5d30 sctp_assoc_bh_rcv+0x392/0x6f0 sctp_inq_push+0x1db/0x270 sctp_rcv+0x138d/0x3c10 Fix this by fully purging the association outqueue when handling the Stale Cookie case. This ensures all pending transmit and retransmit state is dropped, and any scheduler cached pointers are invalidated, making it safe to rebuild stream state during COOKIE_WAIT restart. Updating only stream->out_curr would be insufficient, since queued and retransmittable data would still reference the old stream state and trigger later use-after-free in dequeue paths.

References

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