CVE-2021-47638 | ubifs: rename_whiteout: Fix double free for whiteout_ui->data

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ubifs: rename_whiteout: Fix double free for whiteout_ui->data 'whiteout_ui->data' will be freed twice if space budget fail for rename whiteout operation as following process: rename_whiteout dev = kmalloc whiteout_ui->data = dev kfree(whiteout_ui->data) // Free first time iput(whiteout) ubifs_free_inode kfree(ui->data) // Double free! KASAN reports: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: double-free or invalid-free in ubifs_free_inode+0x4f/0x70 Call Trace: kfree+0x117/0x490 ubifs_free_inode+0x4f/0x70 [ubifs] i_callback+0x30/0x60 rcu_do_batch+0x366/0xac0 __do_softirq+0x133/0x57f Allocated by task 1506: kmem_cache_alloc_trace+0x3c2/0x7a0 do_rename+0x9b7/0x1150 [ubifs] ubifs_rename+0x106/0x1f0 [ubifs] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 Freed by task 1506: kfree+0x117/0x490 do_rename.cold+0x53/0x8a [ubifs] ubifs_rename+0x106/0x1f0 [ubifs] do_syscall_64+0x35/0x80 The buggy address belongs to the object at ffff88810238bed8 which belongs to the cache kmalloc-8 of size 8 ================================================================== Let ubifs_free_inode() free 'whiteout_ui->data'. BTW, delete unused assignment 'whiteout_ui->data_len = 0', process 'ubifs_evict_inode() -> ubifs_jnl_delete_inode() -> ubifs_jnl_write_inode()' doesn't need it (because 'inc_nlink(whiteout)' won't be excuted by 'goto out_release', and the nlink of whiteout inode is 0).

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-10-01 Assigner: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67 Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-47638 is rated Low Risk (26.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.23%). 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-2021-47638

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 0.03% 0.23% +0.20%
2 2025-11-21 0.06% 0.03% -0.03%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.06% —

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-47638

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]
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 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-47638

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-47638

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-47638 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-2021-47638
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-47638
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-47638/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-47638 medium priority: Ubuntu including 158 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner-5.19, …), 1551 status rows across 10 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1145, ignored 146, released 145, not-affected 115. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-47638

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-47638

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 4.9, < 4.14.276 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.238 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.189 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.110 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.15.33 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.16, < 5.16.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.17, < 5.17.2 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-47638

cvelogic Threat Intelligence