CVE-2021-46959

HighCVSS 7.8/10Last modified Jun 17, 2026

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

spi: Fix use-after-free with devm_spi_alloc_*

We can't rely on the contents of the devres list during spi_unregister_controller(), as the list is already torn down at the time we perform devres_find() for devm_spi_release_controller. This causes devices registered with devm_spi_alloc_{master,slave}() to be mistakenly identified as legacy, non-devm managed devices and have their reference counters decremented below 0.

------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 660 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0x108/0x174 [<b0396f04>] (refcount_warn_saturate) from [<b03c56a4>] (kobject_put+0x90/0x98) [<b03c5614>] (kobject_put) from [<b0447b4c>] (put_device+0x20/0x24) r4:b6700140 [<b0447b2c>] (put_device) from [<b07515e8>] (devm_spi_release_controller+0x3c/0x40) [<b07515ac>] (devm_spi_release_controller) from [<b045343c>] (release_nodes+0x84/0xc4) r5:b6700180 r4:b6700100 [<b04533b8>] (release_nodes) from [<b0454160>] (devres_release_all+0x5c/0x60) r8:b1638c54 r7:b117ad94 r6:b1638c10 r5:b117ad94 r4:b163dc10 [<b0454104>] (devres_release_all) from [<b044e41c>] (__device_release_driver+0x144/0x1ec) r5:b117ad94 r4:b163dc10 [<b044e2d8>] (__device_release_driver) from [<b044f70c>] (device_driver_detach+0x84/0xa0) r9:00000000 r8:00000000 r7:b117ad94 r6:b163dc54 r5:b1638c10 r4:b163dc10 [<b044f688>] (device_driver_detach) from [<b044d274>] (unbind_store+0xe4/0xf8)

Instead, determine the devm allocation state as a flag on the controller which is guaranteed to be stable during cleanup.

Metrics

CVSS 3.1 7.8/10CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness enumeration

Affected software

No affected versions have been published.

Timeline

Published
Feb 29, 2024
Last modified
Jun 17, 2026
NVD status
Analyzed

Related CVEs from 2021

CVE-2021-469605.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: cifs: Return correct error code from smb2_get_enc_key Avoid a warning CVE-2021-469615.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: irqchip/gic-v3: Do not enable irqs when handling spurious interrups WeCVE-2021-469625.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mmc: uniphier-sd: Fix a resource leak in the remove function A 'tmio_mCVE-2021-469635.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Fix crash in qla2xxx_mqueuecommand() RIP: 0010:kmemCVE-2021-469645.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: scsi: qla2xxx: Reserve extra IRQ vectors Commit a6dcfe08487e ("scsi: qCVE-2021-469657.1In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mtd: physmap: physmap-bt1-rom: Fix unintentional stack access Cast &daCVE-2021-469667.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ACPI: custom_method: fix potential use-after-free issue In cm_write(),CVE-2021-469675.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: vhost-vdpa: fix vm_flags for virtqueue doorbell mapping The virtqueue CVE-2021-469685.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: s390/zcrypt: fix zcard and zqueue hot-unplug memleak Tests with kvm anCVE-2021-469697.8In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bus: mhi: core: Fix invalid error returning in mhi_queue mhi_queue retCVE-2021-469705.5In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bus: mhi: pci_generic: Remove WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag from state workqueue CVE-2021-469713.3In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: perf/core: Fix unconditional security_locked_down() call Currently, th
CVE-2021-46959: High severity, CVSS 7.8 | Vulnix