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Unscored CVE-2021-46972 EUVD-2021-33620GHSA-5fx7-qfg5-mpmc

ovl: fix leaked dentry

Published Feb 27, 2024 · Updated May 11, 2026 · Assigned by Linux

Vendor: Linux Product: Linux Package: linux Package: linux-allwinner-5.19 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-5.8 Package: linux-aws-6.2 Package: linux-azure Package: linux-azure-5.11 Package: linux-azure-5.13 Package: linux-azure-5.19 Package: linux-azure-5.3 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-gcp Package: linux-gcp-5.11 Package: linux-gcp-5.13 Package: linux-gcp-5.19 Package: linux-gcp-5.3 Package: linux-gcp-5.8 Package: linux-gcp-6.2 Package: linux-gke Package: linux-gke-4.15 Package: linux-gke-5.15 Package: linux-gke-5.4 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-5.8 Package: linux-hwe-6.2 Package: linux-hwe-edge Package: linux-intel-5.13 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-5.0 Package: linux-oracle-5.11 Package: linux-oracle-5.13 Package: linux-oracle-5.3 Package: linux-oracle-5.8 Package: linux-raspi2 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 Platform: Linux Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

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

ovl: fix leaked dentry

Since commit 6815f479ca90 ("ovl: use only uppermetacopy state in
ovl_lookup()"), overlayfs doesn't put temporary dentry when there is a
metacopy error, which leads to dentry leaks when shutting down the related
superblock:

overlayfs: refusing to follow metacopy origin for (/file0)
...
BUG: Dentry (____ptrval____){i=3f33,n=file3} still in use (1) [unmount of overlay overlay]
...
WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 432 at umount_check.cold+0x107/0x14d
CPU: 1 PID: 432 Comm: unmount-overlay Not tainted 5.12.0-rc5 #1
...
RIP: 0010:umount_check.cold+0x107/0x14d
...
Call Trace:
d_walk+0x28c/0x950
? dentry_lru_isolate+0x2b0/0x2b0
? __kasan_slab_free+0x12/0x20
do_one_tree+0x33/0x60
shrink_dcache_for_umount+0x78/0x1d0
generic_shutdown_super+0x70/0x440
kill_anon_super+0x3e/0x70
deactivate_locked_super+0xc4/0x160
deactivate_super+0xfa/0x140
cleanup_mnt+0x22e/0x370
__cleanup_mnt+0x1a/0x30
task_work_run+0x139/0x210
do_exit+0xb0c/0x2820
? __kasan_check_read+0x1d/0x30
? find_held_lock+0x35/0x160
? lock_release+0x1b6/0x660
? mm_update_next_owner+0xa20/0xa20
? reacquire_held_locks+0x3f0/0x3f0
? __sanitizer_cov_trace_const_cmp4+0x22/0x30
do_group_exit+0x135/0x380
__do_sys_exit_group.isra.0+0x20/0x20
__x64_sys_exit_group+0x3c/0x50
do_syscall_64+0x45/0x70
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae
...
VFS: Busy inodes after unmount of overlay. Self-destruct in 5 seconds. Have a nice day...

This fix has been tested with a syzkaller reproducer.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.8 5.10.35

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 22.04 LTS linux-riscv +20 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS linux-gke +26 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS linux-gcp +14 No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS linux-hwe-edge No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
RHEL 8 kernel-rt +12 4.18.0-553.8.1.rt7.349.el8_10 RHSA-2024:4352
RHEL 8 perf +26 4.18.0-553.8.1.el8_10 RHSA-2024:4211

AlmaLinux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux 8 kernel-rt +11 4.18.0-553.8.1.rt7.349.el8_10 ALSA-2024:4352
AlmaLinux 8 perf +24 4.18.0-553.8.1.el8_10 ALSA-2024:4211

Rocky Linux

Errata ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Rocky Linux 8 kernel 4.18.0-553.8.1.el8_10 RLSA-2024:4211
Rocky Linux 8 kernel-rt 4.18.0-553.8.1.rt7.349.el8_10 RLSA-2024:4352

Oracle Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Oracle Linux 8 perf +19 4.18.0-553.8.1.el8_10 ELSA-2024-4211

Advisories 9

References