Kernel disclosure and crash via stale affinity hint
Published May 21, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Use-after-free in the Linux kernel ENETC driver allows local users to disclose kernel memory or crash the system through procfs. enetc_setup_irqs passes a stack-backed cpumask to irq_set_affinity_hint, which retains the pointer after the function returns; irq_affinity_hint_proc_show later dereferences that stale address. Exploitation requires an active ENETC interface and a read of its world-readable /proc/irq//affinity_hint entry, exposing reused kernel-stack contents or causing a paging-request oops.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Linux kernel ENETC driver allows local users to disclose kernel memory or crash the system through procfs. enetc_setup_irqs passes a stack-backed cpumask to irq_set_affinity_hint, which retains the pointer after the function returns; irq_affinity_hint_proc_show later dereferences that stale address. Exploitation requires an active ENETC interface and a read of its world-readable /proc/irq//affinity_hint entry, exposing reused kernel-stack contents or causing a paging-request oops.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47368
- Published
- May 21, 2024
- Updated
- Aug 5, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-400
- 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?
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- Affected versionversion=5.1
- Affected versionversion=d4fd0404c1c95b17880f254ebfee3485693fa8ba <4c4c3052911b577920353a7646e4883d5da40c28
- Affected versionversion=d4fd0404c1c95b17880f254ebfee3485693fa8ba <6c3f1b741c6c2914ea120e3a5790d3e900152f7b
- Affected versionversion=d4fd0404c1c95b17880f254ebfee3485693fa8ba <6f329d9da2a5ae032fcde800a99b118124ed5270
- Affected versionversion=d4fd0404c1c95b17880f254ebfee3485693fa8ba <7237a494decfa17d0b9d0076e6cee3235719de90
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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