CVE-2021-28971

In intel_pmu_drain_pebs_nhm in arch/x86/events/intel/ds.c in the Linux kernel through 5.11.8 on some Haswell CPUs, userspace applications (such as perf-fuzzer) can cause a system crash because the PEBS status in a PEBS record is mishandled, aka CID-d88d05a9e0b6.

Published: 2021-03-22 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-28971 is rated Low Risk (32.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.39%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-28971

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.09% 0.39% +0.30%
2 2026-04-22 0.03% 0.09% +0.06%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.03% —

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-28971

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
4.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-28971

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-28971

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-28971 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-28971
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-28971
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-28971/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-28971 medium priority: Ubuntu including 169 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner, …), 2181 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1696, not-affected 241, released 204, ignored 40. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-28971

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-28971

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel <= 5.11.8 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp cloud_backup — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:cloud_backup:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp solidfire_baseboard_management_controller_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:solidfire_baseboard_management_controller_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp aff_a250_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:aff_a250_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp aff_500f_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:aff_500f_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-28971

URL Tags
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=d88d05a9e0b6d9356e97129d4ff9942d765f46ea Mailing List Patch Vendor Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00019.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00020.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4VCKIOXCOZGXBEZMO5LGGV5MWCHO6FT3/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PTRNPQTZ4GVS46SZ4OBXY5YDOGVPSTGQ/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/T2S3I4SLRNRUQDOFYUS6IUAZMQNMPNLG/
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210430-0003/ Third Party Advisory
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