CVE-2021-46990

Medium

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: powerpc/64s: Fix crashes when toggling entry flush barrier The entry flush mitigation can be enabled/disabled at runtime via a debugfs file (entry_flush), which causes the kernel to patch itself to enable/disable the relevant mitigations. However depending on which mitigation we're using, it may not be safe to do that patching while other CPUs are active. For example the following crash: sleeper[15639]: segfault (11) at c000000000004c20 nip c000000000004c20 lr c000000000004c20 Shows that we returned to userspace with a corrupted LR that points into the kernel, due to executing the partially patched call to the fallback entry flush (ie. we missed the LR restore). Fix it by doing the patching under stop machine. The CPUs that aren't doing the patching will be spinning in the core of the stop machine logic. That is currently sufficient for our purposes, because none of the patching we do is to that code or anywhere in the vicinity.

Package Linux Kernel
Published 2024-02-28
Last modified 2024-12-26
CVSS version 3.1
Patch available
Awaiting data

CVSS 3.1 score

5.5

out of 10
Medium
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

References

The following references provide additional information about CVE-2021-46990 including vendor advisories, patch commits, exploit details, and third-party analysis. Links are sourced from the NIST NVD database.

Frequently asked questions

  • What is CVE-2021-46990?

    CVE-2021-46990 is a Medium severity Linux kernel vulnerability with a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10 . CVE-2021-46990 has not been confirmed as actively exploited and is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

  • What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-46990?

    CVE-2021-46990 has a CVSS score of 5.5 out of 10, rated Medium severity (CVSS 3.1). The vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H .

  • Is there a patch available for CVE-2021-46990?

    No patch is currently available for CVE-2021-46990. Monitor the NIST NVD and your Linux distribution's security advisories for updates.

  • Is CVE-2021-46990 actively exploited?

    No — CVE-2021-46990 has not been confirmed as actively exploited. It is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.