CVE-2021-47069
ipc/mqueue, msg, sem: avoid relying on a stack reference past its expiry
Reported by linux · Published March 1, 2024
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipc/mqueue, msg, sem: avoid relying on a stack reference past its expiry do_mq_timedreceive calls wq_sleep with a stack local address. The sender (do_mq_timedsend) uses this address to later call pipelined_send. This leads to a very hard to trigger race where a do_mq_timedreceive call might return and leave do_mq_timedsend to rely on an invalid address, causing the following crash: RIP: 0010:wake_q_add_safe+0x13/0x60 Call Trace: __x64_sys_mq_timedsend+0x2a9/0x490 do_syscall_64+0x80/0x680 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9 RIP: 0033:0x7f5928e40343 The race occurs as: 1. do_mq_timedreceive calls wq_sleep with the address of `struct ext_wait_queue` on function stack (aliased as `ewq_addr` here) - it holds a valid `struct ext_wait_queue *` as long as the stack has not been overwritten. 2. `ewq_addr` gets added to info->e_wait_q[RECV].list in wq_add, and do_mq_timedsend receives it via wq_get_first_waiter(info, RECV) to call __pipelined_op. 3. Sender calls __pipelined_op::smp_store_release(&this->state, STATE_READY). Here is where the race window begins. (`this` is `ewq_addr`.) 4. If the receiver wakes up now in do_mq_timedreceive::wq_sleep, it will see `state == STATE_READY` and break. 5. do_mq_timedreceive returns, and `ewq_addr` is no longer guaranteed to be a `struct ext_wait_queue *` since it was on do_mq_timedreceive's stack. (Although the address may not get overwritten until another function happens to touch it, which means it can persist around for an indefinite time.) 6. do_mq_timedsend::__pipelined_op() still believes `ewq_addr` is a `struct ext_wait_queue *`, and uses it to find a task_struct to pass to the wake_q_add_safe call. In the lucky case where nothing has overwritten `ewq_addr` yet, `ewq_addr->task` is the right task_struct. In the unlucky case, __pipelined_op::wake_q_add_safe gets handed a bogus address as the receiver's task_struct causing the crash. do_mq_timedsend::__pipelined_op() should not dereference `this` after setting STATE_READY, as the receiver counterpart is now free to return. Change __pipelined_op to call wake_q_add_safe on the receiver's task_struct returned by get_task_struct, instead of dereferencing `this` which sits on the receiver's stack. As Manfred pointed out, the race potentially also exists in ipc/msg.c::expunge_all and ipc/sem.c::wake_up_sem_queue_prepare. Fix those in the same way.
Fixed versions
Upgrade to a fixed version or later. Language registries are listed first, then Linux distributions, then vendor products.
| Package | Ecosystem | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux_kernel | linux | 5.12.7, 5.10.40 |
| Linux | Linux | a11ddb37bf367e6b5239b95ca759e5389bb46048, 807fa14536b26803b858da878b643be72952a097, 4528c0c323085e645b8765913b4a7fd42cf49b65 |
Risk scores
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | c5b2cbdbdac563f46ecd5e187253ab1abbd6fc04, c5b2cbdbdac563f46ecd5e187253ab1abbd6fc04, c5b2cbdbdac563f46ecd5e187253ab1abbd6fc04 |
| Linux | Linux | 5.6, 0, 5.10.40 |
| Linux | Linux | *, 5.10.40, * |
| linux | linux_kernel | 5.6, 5.6, 5.6 |
Timeline
- Mar 1, 2024 CVE Published
- Mar 2, 2024 EPSS Score (30 in total, the first dated here)
- May 29, 2026 Distribution Patch (98 in total, the first dated here)
- May 29, 2026 Security Advisory (108 in total, the first dated here)
- Jul 13, 2026 Coalition ESS Score
- Aug 5, 2026 CVE Updated
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