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Unscored CVE-2021-47318 EUVD-2021-34323GHSA-f8fr-xvcp-37m8

arch_topology: Avoid use-after-free for scale_freq_data

Published May 21, 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:

arch_topology: Avoid use-after-free for scale_freq_data

Currently topology_scale_freq_tick() (which gets called from
scheduler_tick()) may end up using a pointer to "struct
scale_freq_data", which was previously cleared by
topology_clear_scale_freq_source(), as there is no protection in place
here. The users of topology_clear_scale_freq_source() though needs a
guarantee that the previously cleared scale_freq_data isn't used
anymore, so they can free the related resources.

Since topology_scale_freq_tick() is called from scheduler tick, we don't
want to add locking in there. Use the RCU update mechanism instead
(which is already used by the scheduler's utilization update path) to
guarantee race free updates here.

synchronize_rcu() makes sure that all RCU critical sections that started
before it is called, will finish before it returns. And so the callers
of topology_clear_scale_freq_source() don't need to worry about their
callback getting called anymore.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Linux Linux 5.13 5.13.4

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 5.14.6-1 —
Debian 13 linux 5.14.6-1 —
Debian 12 linux 5.14.6-1 —
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 —

References