Kernel crash via stale fallback socket flag
Published Jun 19, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel MPTCP handling allows local users to crash affected hosts through fallback sockets. During fallback accept handling in net/mptcp/protocol.c, a plain TCP socket retains sk_sock_kern, allowing TCP_ULP to attach MPTCP before subflow_data_ready dereferences a NULL ctx->conn. Local low-privileged access is required, and successful triggering interrupts the host by crashing its kernel.
Summary
What happened
NULL pointer dereference in Linux kernel MPTCP handling allows local users to crash affected hosts through fallback sockets. During fallback accept handling in net/mptcp/protocol.c, a plain TCP socket retains sk_sock_kern, allowing TCP_ULP to attach MPTCP before subflow_data_ready dereferences a NULL ctx->conn. Local low-privileged access is required, and successful triggering interrupts the host by crashing its kernel.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47593
- Published
- Jun 19, 2024
- Updated
- May 11, 2026
- Vendor
- The Linux Kernel Organization
- Product
- Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-476, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 19, 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?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=5.6
- Affected versionversion=cf7da0d66cc1a2a19fc5930bb746ffbb2d4cd1be <451f1eded7f56e93aaf52eb547ba97742d9c0e97
- Affected versionversion=cf7da0d66cc1a2a19fc5930bb746ffbb2d4cd1be <c26ac0ea3a91c210cf90452e625dc441adf3e549
- Affected versionversion=cf7da0d66cc1a2a19fc5930bb746ffbb2d4cd1be <d6692b3b97bdc165d150f4c1505751a323a80717
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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