Kernel freeze or corruption via unpropagated BPF flag
Published May 21, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Out-of-bounds access in the BPF verifier in affected Linux 5.10 through 5.13 branches allows local users to freeze or corrupt the kernel. check_max_stack_depth() updates each subprogram's tail_call_reachable flag but fails to propagate the main program's value to env->prog->aux, so JIT failure leaves an invalid BPF-to-BPF tail-call program eligible for interpreter execution. The path requires CAP_BPF or CAP_SYS_ADMIN and a crafted program that forces JIT allocation failure; execution can recurse until kernel stack overflow, memory corruption, crash, or freeze occurs.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds access in the BPF verifier in affected Linux 5.10 through 5.13 branches allows local users to freeze or corrupt the kernel. check_max_stack_depth() updates each subprogram's tail_call_reachable flag but fails to propagate the main program's value to env->prog->aux, so JIT failure leaves an invalid BPF-to-BPF tail-call program eligible for interpreter execution. The path requires CAP_BPF or CAP_SYS_ADMIN and a crafted program that forces JIT allocation failure; execution can recurse until kernel stack overflow, memory corruption, crash, or freeze occurs.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47300
- Published
- May 21, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-125, T1068, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 21, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.10
- Affected versionversion=ebf7d1f508a73871acf3b2bfbfa1323a477acdb3 <39f1735c8107ef43a53c4daf82f330d880488d8f
- Affected versionversion=ebf7d1f508a73871acf3b2bfbfa1323a477acdb3 <5dd0a6b8582ffbfa88351949d50eccd5b6694ade
- Affected versionversion=ebf7d1f508a73871acf3b2bfbfa1323a477acdb3 <cbb086074dab631ac43f8645cbac1d7b148e05c4
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
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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