Kernel crash via stale AMD IOMMU DMA ops
Published Mar 25, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
Denial of service in the Linux kernel 5.11 allows local users to crash the kernel by switching an AMD IOMMU group to identity mode. When iommu_change_dev_def_domain() reprobes a device, the AMD probe_finalize() path leaves dev->dma_ops pointing to dma-iommu operations after the domain becomes identity. Reaching the fault requires permission to change the IOMMU group type and rebind a PCI device; the next DMA allocation dereferences invalid state and produces a kernel oops.
Summary
What happened
Denial of service in the Linux kernel 5.11 allows local users to crash the kernel by switching an AMD IOMMU group to identity mode. When iommu_change_dev_def_domain() reprobes a device, the AMD probe_finalize() path leaves dev->dma_ops pointing to dma-iommu operations after the domain becomes identity. Reaching the fault requires permission to change the IOMMU group type and rebind a PCI device; the next DMA allocation dereferences invalid state and produces a kernel oops.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47140
- Published
- Mar 25, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 25, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 11, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=08a27c1c3ecf5e1da193ce5f8fc97c3be16e75f0 <d6177a6556f853785867e2ec6d5b7f4906f0d809
- Affected versionversion=08a27c1c3ecf5e1da193ce5f8fc97c3be16e75f0 <f3f2cf46291a693eab21adb94171b0128c2a9ec1
- Affected versionversion=5.11
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo