CVE-2021-47044: linux kernel vulnerability

What is known

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/fair: Fix shift-out-of-bounds in load_balance() Syzbot reported a handful of occurrences where an sd->nr_balance_failed can grow to much higher values than one would expect. A successful load_balance() resets it to 0; a failed one increments it. Once it gets to sd->cache_nice_tries + 3, this *should* trigger an active balance, which will either set it to sd->cache_nice_tries+1 or reset it to 0. However, in case the to-be-active-balanced task is not allowed to run on env->dst_cpu, then the increment is done without any further modification. This could then be repeated ad nauseam, and would explain the absurdly high values reported by syzbot (86, 149). VincentG noted there is value in letting sd->cache_nice_tries grow, so the shift itself should be fixed. That means preventing: """ If the value of the right operand is negative or is greater than or equal to the width of the promoted left operand, the behavior is undefined. """ Thus we need to cap the shift exponent to BITS_PER_TYPE(typeof(lefthand)) - 1. I had a look around for other similar cases via coccinelle: @expr@ position pos; expression E1; expression E2; @@ ( E1 >> E2@pos | E1 >> E2@pos ) @cst depends on expr@ position pos; expression expr.E1; constant cst; @@ ( E1 >> cst@pos | E1 << cst@pos ) @script:python depends on !cst@ pos << expr.pos; exp << expr.E2; @@ # Dirty hack to ignore constexpr if exp.upper() != exp: coccilib.report.print_report(pos[0], "Possible UB shift here") The only other match in kernel/sched is rq_clock_thermal() which employs sched_thermal_decay_shift, and that exponent is already capped to 10, so that one is fine.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2021-47044, a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.7) affecting linux kernel, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether linux kernel is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
• Reference
• Reference
• Reference
• Reference