CVE-2021-47393

Description

A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's hwmon subsystem, specifically in the mlxreg-fan driver. The issue arises when the driver’s sysfs interface for controlling fan speed does not properly handle cases where the requested minimum fan speed exceeds the maximum allowable value. When the value provided is out of bounds, it results in a non-zero return code that prevents updates to thermal statistics, which can lead to a slab-out-of-bounds error, potentially causing system instability or crashes due to improper access to memory.

Statement

This vulnerability is rated as a moderate severity because it can disrupt system operation by causing crashes or unpredictable behaviour under specific conditions.

Mitigation

Red Hat has investigated whether a possible mitigation exists for this issue, and has not been able to identify a practical example. Please update the affected package as soon as possible.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score4.77.1N/A
Attack VectorLocalLocalN/A
Attack ComplexityHighLowN/A
Privileges RequiredLowLowN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityNoneHighN/A
Integrity ImpactNoneNoneN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

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

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

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Integrity,Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Unexpected State

The data which were produced as a result of a function call could be in a bad state upon return. If the return value is not checked, then this bad data may be used in operations, possibly leading to a crash or other unintended behaviors.

Frequently Asked Questions

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