CVE-2021-46970
5.5 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2021-46970 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting linux linux_kernel. It was published on February 27, 2024 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bus: mhi: pci_generic: Remove WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flag from state workqueue
A recent change created a dedicated workqueue for the state-change work
with WQ_HIGHPRI (no strong reason for that) and WQ_MEM_RECLAIM flags,
but the state-change work (mhi_pm_st_worker) does not guarantee forward
progress under memory pressure, and will even wait on various memory
allocations when e.g. creating devices, loading firmware, etc... The
work is then not part of a memory reclaim path...
Moreover, this causes a warning in check_flush_dependency() since we end
up in code that flushes a non-reclaim workqueue:
[ 40.969601] workqueue: WQ_MEM_RECLAIM mhi_hiprio_wq:mhi_pm_st_worker [mhi] is flushing !WQ_MEM_RECLAIM events_highpri:flush_backlog
[ 40.969612] WARNING: CPU: 4 PID: 158 at kernel/workqueue.c:2607 check_flush_dependency+0x11c/0x140
[ 40.969733] Call Trace:
[ 40.969740] __flush_work+0x97/0x1d0
[ 40.969745] ? wake_up_pro
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| linux | linux_kernel | >= 5.11, < 5.11.20 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2021-46970?
CVE-2021-46970 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting linux linux_kernel. It was published on February 27, 2024 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2021-46970?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-46970?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from linux. Update linux_kernel to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-46970?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2021-46970 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
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