Double Free in Linux
CVE-2021-47638
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ubifs: rename_whiteout: Fix double free for whiteout_ui->data 'whiteout_ui->data' will be freed twice if space budget fail for rename whiteout operation as following process: rename_whiteout dev = kmalloc whiteout_ui->data = dev kfree(whiteout_ui->data) // Free first time iput(whiteout) ubifs_free_inode kfree(ui->data) // Double free! KASAN reports: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: double-free or invalid-free in ubifs_free_inode+0x4f/0x70 Call Trace: kfree+0x117/0x490 ubifs_free_inode+0x4f/0x70 [ubifs] i_callback+0x30/0x60 rcu_do_batch+0x366/0xac0 __do_softirq+0x133/0x57f Allocated by task 1506: kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x3c2/0x7a0 do_rename+0x9b7/0x1150 [ubifs] ubifs_rename+0x106/0x1f0 [ubifs] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 Freed by task 1506: kfree+0x117/0x490 do_rename.cold+0x53/0x8a [ubifs] ubifs_rename+0x106/0x1f0 [ubifs] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff88810238bed8 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-8 of size 8 ================================================================== Let ubifs_free_inode() free 'whiteout_ui->data'. BTW, delete unused assignment 'whiteout_ui->data_len = 0', process 'ubifs_evict_inode() -> ubifs_jnl_delete_inode() -> ubifs_jnl_write_inode()' doesn't need it (because 'inc_nlink(whiteout)' won't be excuted by 'goto out_release', and the nlink of whiteout inode is 0).
Vulnerability class: Double Free
EPSS: 0.002 (15.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Linux — versions 9e0a1fff8db56eaaebb74b4a3ef65f86811c4798, 4.9, 0
- Linux Linux_kernel
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
- 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 (Patch)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2021-47638?
- CVE-2021-47638 is a high-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under Double Free. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2025-02-26.
- How severe is CVE-2021-47638?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.