Kernel crash via unchecked regmap initialization error
Published May 22, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux ENCX24J600 Ethernet driver allows local users to crash the kernel during device probing. The encx24j600_spi_probe path passes an error pointer returned by devm_regmap_init_encx24j600 into later register access instead of checking it. Triggering the fault requires high-privileged local access to add or probe an SPI ENCX24J600 device and an initialization failure such as memory exhaustion; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel fault.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in the Linux ENCX24J600 Ethernet driver allows local users to crash the kernel during device probing. The encx24j600_spi_probe path passes an error pointer returned by devm_regmap_init_encx24j600 into later register access instead of checking it. Triggering the fault requires high-privileged local access to add or probe an SPI ENCX24J600 device and an initialization failure such as memory exhaustion; the demonstrated consequence is a kernel fault.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47440
- Published
- May 22, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 22, 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
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <322c0e53496309e634d9db7349678eaad1d25b55
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <4c2eb80fc90b05559ce6ed1b8dfb2348420b5644
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <5e5494e6fc8a29c927e0478bec4a078a40da8901
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <66358471fa75a713fd76bc8a4bd74cb14cd50a4f
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <e19c10d6e07c59c96e90fe053a72683ad8b0397e
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <f03dca0c9e2297c84a018e306f8a9cd534ee4287
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <f043fac1133a6c5ef960a8422c0f6dd711dee462
- Affected versionversion=04fbfce7a222327b97ca165294ef19f0faa45960 <fddc7f678d7fb93caa0d7bc512f968ff1e2bddbc
- Affected versionversion=4.4
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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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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