Kernel compromise via RCU use-after-free
Published Mar 4, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux kernel allows local users to read or alter kernel-managed data or crash the system through affected receive paths. In tcp_v4_do_rcv and tcp_v6_do_rcv, code releases the RCU-protected sk_rx_dst destination before clearing the pointer, allowing early demultiplexing to dereference freed memory. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and winning the relevant timing window; the demonstrated failure is a KASAN-detected invalid kernel read.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux kernel allows local users to read or alter kernel-managed data or crash the system through affected receive paths. In tcp_v4_do_rcv and tcp_v6_do_rcv, code releases the RCU-protected sk_rx_dst destination before clearing the pointer, allowing early demultiplexing to dereference freed memory. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and winning the relevant timing window; the demonstrated failure is a KASAN-detected invalid kernel read.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47103
- Published
- Mar 4, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-416
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 4, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=3.6
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <0249a4b8a554f2eb6a27b62516fa50168584faa4
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <68c34ce11ef23328692aa35fa6aaafdd75913100
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <75a578000ae5e511e5d0e8433c94a14d9c99c412
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <8f905c0e7354ef261360fb7535ea079b1082c105
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <92e6e36ecd16808866ac6172b9491b5097cde449
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <c3bb4a7e8cbc984e1cdac0fe6af60e880214ed6e
- Affected versionversion=41063e9dd11956f2d285e12e4342e1d232ba0ea2 <f039b43cbaea5e0700980c2f0052da05a70782e0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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