CVE-2021-46925: net/smc: fix kernel panic caused by race of smc_sock
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2021-46925 is a high (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in linux. EPSS estimates a 0.18% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 7.9% of scored vulnerabilities.
Not severe (CVSS 7.8, local access); no exploitation reported by the 5 checked sources
Source freshness unavailable
How is this decided?Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 6 · Related 6Timeline
- 27-02-2024PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 05-08-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/smc: fix kernel panic caused by race of smc_sock A crash occurs when smc_cdc_tx_handler() tries to access smc_sock but smc_release() has already freed it. [ 4570.695099] BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: 000000002eae9e88 [ 4570.696048] #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode [ 4570.696728] #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page [ 4570.697401] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 4570.697716] Oops: 0002 [#1] PREEMPT SMP NOPTI [ 4570.698228] CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 5.16.0-rc4+ #111 [ 4570.699013] Hardware name: Alibaba Cloud Alibaba Cloud ECS, BIOS 8c24b4c 04/0 [ 4570.699933] RIP: 0010:_raw_spin_lock+0x1a/0x30 <...> [ 4570.711446] Call Trace: [ 4570.711746] <IRQ> [ 4570.711992] smc_cdc_tx_handler+0x41/0xc0 [ 4570.712470] smc_wr_tx_tasklet_fn+0x213/0x560 [ 4570.712981] ? smc_cdc_tx_dismisser+0x10/0x10 [ 4570.713489] tasklet_action_common.isra.17+0x66/0x140 [ 4570.714083] __do_softirq+0x123/0x2f4 [ 4570.714521] irq_exit_rcu+0xc4/0xf0 [ 4570.714934] common_interrupt+0xba/0xe0 Though smc_cdc_tx_handler() checked the existence of smc connection, smc_release() may have already dismissed and released the smc socket before smc_cdc_tx_handler() further visits it. smc_cdc_tx_handler() |smc_release() if (!conn) | | |smc_cdc_tx_dismiss_slots() | smc_cdc_tx_dismisser() | |sock_put(&smc->sk) <- last sock_put, | smc_sock freed bh_lock_sock(&smc->sk) (panic) | To make sure we won't receive any CDC messages after we free the smc_sock, add a refcount on the smc_connection for inflight CDC message(posted to the QP but haven't received related CQE), and don't release the smc_connection until all the inflight CDC messages haven been done, for both success or failed ones. Using refcount on CDC messages brings another problem: when the link is going to be destroyed, smcr_link_clear() will reset the QP, which then remove all the pending CQEs related to the QP in the CQ. To make sure all the CQEs will always come back so the refcount on the smc_connection can always reach 0, smc_ib_modify_qp_reset() was replaced by smc_ib_modify_qp_error(). And remove the timeout in smc_wr_tx_wait_no_pending_sends() since we need to wait for all pending WQEs done, or we may encounter use-after- free when handling CQEs. For IB device removal routine, we need to wait for all the QPs on that device been destroyed before we can destroy CQs on the device, or the refcount on smc_connection won't reach 0 and smc_sock cannot be released.
CVSS metrics
5 scores · 4 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated4.7MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
- NVDNIST4.7MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HDiffers
EPSS trend
Probability
0.18%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
8%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
No change 0.00 pp
From 0.18% on 04-10-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in the CISA KEV catalog.
Not in the ENISA CNW catalog.
Not in the CIRCL catalog.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Known conditions: local access, low-privilege account, no user interaction (CVSS vector). Other conditions: not stated in public data.
Ubuntu89 products
- linuxAll versions (No fix recorded)
- linux-allwinner-5.19All versions (No fix recorded)
- linux-awsAll versions (No fix recorded)
- linux-aws-5.0All versions (No fix recorded)
- linux-aws-5.11All versions (No fix recorded)
Linux2 products
- linux≥ 5f08318f617b05b6ee389d8bd174c7af921ebf19, < e8a5988a85c719ce7205cb00dcf0716dcf611332 | ≥ 5f08318f617b05b6ee389d8bd174c7af921ebf19, < b85f751d71ae8e2a15e9bda98852ea9af35282eb | ≥ 5f08318f617b05b6ee389d8bd174c7af921ebf19, < 349d43127dac00c15231e8ffbcaabd70f7b0e544 | 4.11
- linux_kernel≥ 4.11.0, < 5.10.90 | ≥ 5.11.0, < 5.15.13
Debian1 product
- linux< 5.15.15-1
3 vendors · 92 products