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High · 7.8 CVE-2021-46921 EUVD-2021-33569GHSA-8j25-5vwv-hm2f

locking/qrwlock: Fix ordering in queued_write_lock_slowpath()

Published Feb 27, 2024 · Updated Aug 5, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 Package: linux-aws Package: linux-aws-5.0 Package: linux-aws-5.11 Package: linux-aws-5.13 Package: linux-aws-5.19 Package: linux-aws-5.3 Package: linux-aws-5.4 Package: linux-aws-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-aws-fips Package: linux-aws-hwe Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-4.15 Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 Package: linux-azure-5.4 Package: linux-azure-5.8 Package: linux-azure-6.2 Package: linux-azure-edge Package: linux-azure-fde Package: linux-azure-fde-5.19 Package: linux-azure-fde-6.2 Package: linux-azure-fips Package: linux-bluefield Package: linux-fips Package: linux-gcp Package: linux-gcp-4.15 Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.4 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gcp-fips Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 Package: linux-gkeop Package: linux-gkeop-5.4 Package: linux-hwe Package: linux-hwe-5.11 Package: linux-hwe-5.13 Package: linux-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-hwe-5.4 Package: linux-hwe-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel-5.13 Package: linux-intel-iot-realtime Package: linux-kvm Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-5.19 Package: linux-lowlatency-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-nvidia-6.2 Package: linux-oem Package: linux-oem-5.10 Package: linux-oem-5.13 Package: linux-oem-5.14 Package: linux-oem-5.17 Package: linux-oem-5.6 Package: linux-oem-6.0 Package: linux-oem-6.1 Package: linux-oracle Package: linux-oracle-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.4 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-raspi Package: linux-raspi-5.4 Package: linux-raspi-realtime Package: linux-raspi2 Package: linux-realtime Package: linux-riscv Package: linux-riscv-5.11 Package: linux-riscv-5.19 Package: linux-riscv-5.8 Package: linux-starfive-5.19 Package: linux-starfive-6.2 Package: linux-vmware Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

locking/qrwlock: Fix ordering in queued_write_lock_slowpath()

While this code is executed with the wait_lock held, a reader can
acquire the lock without holding wait_lock. The writer side loops
checking the value with the atomic_cond_read_acquire(), but only truly
acquires the lock when the compare-and-exchange is completed
successfully which isn’t ordered. This exposes the window between the
acquire and the cmpxchg to an A-B-A problem which allows reads
following the lock acquisition to observe values speculatively before
the write lock is truly acquired.

We've seen a problem in epoll where the reader does a xchg while
holding the read lock, but the writer can see a value change out from
under it.

Writer | Reader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ep_scan_ready_list() |
|- write_lock_irq() |
|- queued_write_lock_slowpath() |
|- atomic_cond_read_acquire() |
| read_lock_irqsave(&ep->lock, flags);
--> (observes value before unlock) | chain_epi_lockless()
| | epi->next = xchg(&ep->ovflist, epi);
| | read_unlock_irqrestore(&ep->lock, flags);
| |
| atomic_cmpxchg_relaxed() |
|-- READ_ONCE(ep->ovflist); |

A core can order the read of the ovflist ahead of the
atomic_cmpxchg_relaxed(). Switching the cmpxchg to use acquire
semantics addresses this issue at which point the atomic_cond_read can
be switched to use relaxed semantics.

[peterz: use try_cmpxchg()]

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 4.15 4.19.189

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 linux 5.10.38-1 —
Debian 13 linux 5.10.38-1 —
Debian 12 linux 5.10.38-1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS linux-raspi-realtime No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +22 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux 5.4.0-74.83 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-aws 5.4.0-1047.49 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-azure 5.4.0-1048.50 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-bluefield 5.4.0-1012.15 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gcp 5.4.0-1044.47 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +26 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gkeop 5.4.0-1016.17 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-kvm 5.4.0-1040.41 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-oracle 5.4.0-1046.50 —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-raspi 5.4.0-1036.39 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux 4.15.0-144.148 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-aws 4.15.0-1101.108 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-aws-5.4 5.4.0-1047.49~18.04.1 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-azure-4.15 4.15.0-1115.128 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-azure-5.4 5.4.0-1048.50~18.04.1 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp-4.15 4.15.0-1100.113 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp-5.4 5.4.0-1044.47~18.04.2 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-hwe-5.4 5.4.0-74.83~18.04.1 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-kvm 4.15.0-1092.94 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-oracle 4.15.0-1072.80 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-oracle-5.4 5.4.0-1046.50~18.04.2 —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-raspi-5.4 5.4.0-1036.39~18.04.1 —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
Show 6 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 20.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS 18.04 LTS linux-fips +3 No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 5.4.0-1069.73+fips2 —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 5.4.0-1073.76+fips1 —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 20.04 LTS linux-gcp-fips 5.4.0-1067.71~20.04.1 —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS linux-aws-fips 4.15.0-2044.46 —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS linux-azure-fips 4.15.0-2027.30 —
Ubuntu Pro FIPS-updates 18.04 LTS linux-fips 4.15.0-1060.68 —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux-aws-hwe 4.15.0-1102.109~16.04.1 —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux-azure 4.15.0-1115.128~16.04.1 —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux-gcp 4.15.0-1100.113~16.04.1 —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux-hwe 4.15.0-144.148~16.04.1 —
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS linux-oracle 4.15.0-1072.80~16.04.1 —
Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS linux-azure 4.15.0-1115.128~14.04.1 —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES 15 SP3 kernel-64kb +7 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLES 15 SP3 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1.150300.18.92.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLES 15 SP2 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1.150200.9.95.3 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLES 15 SP2 kernel-docs +5 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLES 12 SP5 kernel-azure +2 4.12.14-16.173.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0975-1
SLES 12 SP5 kernel-docs +3 4.12.14-122.201.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0925-1
SLES 12 SP5 kernel-obs-build 4.12.14-122.201.2 SUSE-SU-2024:0925-1
Show 12 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
SLES for SAP 15 SP3 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1.150300.18.92.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP3 kernel-docs +5 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP2 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1.150200.9.95.3 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLES for SAP 15 SP2 kernel-docs +5 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLES for SAP 12 SP5 kernel-azure +2 4.12.14-16.173.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0975-1
SLES for SAP 12 SP5 kernel-syms +2 4.12.14-122.201.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0925-1
SLE Real Time 12 SP5 kernel-rt +3 4.12.14-10.171.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0976-1
SLE Micro 5.2 kernel-default 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE Micro 5.2 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1.150300.18.92.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE Micro 5.2 kernel-rt +1 5.3.18-150300.166.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1465-1
SLE Micro 5.1 kernel-default 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE Micro 5.1 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1.150300.18.92.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE Micro 5.1 kernel-rt +1 5.3.18-150300.166.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1465-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP3 kernel-default 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP3 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP3_Update_43 1-150300.7.3.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP2 kernel-default 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLE Live Patching 15 SP2 kernel-livepatch-SLE15-SP2_Update_47 1-150200.5.3.3 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLE Live Patching 12 SP5 kernel-default 4.12.14-122.201.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0925-1
SLE Live Patching 12 SP5 kgraft-patch-SLE12-SP5_Update_54 1-8.7.1 SUSE-SU-2024:0925-1
SLE HPC 15 SP3 kernel-64kb +6 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE HPC 15 SP3 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1.150300.18.92.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SLE HPC 15 SP2 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1.150200.9.95.3 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SLE HPC 15 SP2 kernel-docs +5 5.3.18-150200.24.188.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1454-1
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 kernel-64kb +6 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1
SUSE Enterprise Storage 7.1 kernel-default-base 5.3.18-150300.59.158.1.150300.18.92.5 SUSE-SU-2024:1489-1

Advisories 7

References