CVE-2021-47107

NFSD: Fix READDIR buffer overflow

Published Mar 4, 2024 CVSS 3.1 · 9.8 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

NFSD: Fix READDIR buffer overflow

If a client sends a READDIR count argument that is too small (say,
zero), then the buffer size calculation in the new init_dirlist
helper functions results in an underflow, allowing the XDR stream
functions to write beyond the actual buffer.

This calculation has always been suspect. NFSD has never sanity-
checked the READDIR count argument, but the old entry encoders
managed the problem correctly.

With the commits below, entry encoding changed, exposing the
underflow to the pointer arithmetic in xdr_reserve_space().

Modern NFS clients attempt to retrieve as much data as possible
for each READDIR request. Also, we have no unit tests that
exercise the behavior of READDIR at the lower bound of @count
values. Thus this case was missed during testing.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Weaknesses CWE-120
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H'}

cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Linux
Published
Updated
Oct 14, 2026, 12:12 PM
Reserved
Mar 4, 2024, 6:12 PM
Status
Modified
Published
Mar 4, 2024, 7:15 PM
Modified
Oct 14, 2026, 1:17 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Mar 4, 2024, 12:00 AM