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CVE-2021-46987

5.5 · MEDIUM

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix deadlock when cloning inline extents and using qgroups There are a few exceptional cases where cloning an inline ext…

Published Feb 28, 2024CWE-667EPSS 0.18%

Overview

CVE-2021-46987 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on February 28, 2024 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

Technical description

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

btrfs: fix deadlock when cloning inline extents and using qgroups

There are a few exceptional cases where cloning an inline extent needs to

copy the inline extent data into a page of the destination inode.

When this happens, we end up starting a transaction while having a dirty

page for the destination inode and while having the range locked in the

destination's inode iotree too. Because when reserving metadata space

for a transaction we may need to flush existing delalloc in case there is

not enough free space, we have a mechanism in place to prevent a deadlock,

which was introduced in commit 3d45f221ce627d ("btrfs: fix deadlock when

cloning inline extent and low on free metadata space").

However when using qgroups, a transaction also reserves metadata qgroup

space, which can also result in flushing delalloc in case there is not

enough available space at the moment. When this happens we deadlock, since

flushing de

Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-46987?

CVE-2021-46987 is a medium-severity vulnerability. It was published on February 28, 2024 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2021-46987?

This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.5, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.

How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-46987?

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-46987?

CyberStrike is an open-source, AI-augmented pentesting engine. Rather than flag a version number, it tests whether an issue like CVE-2021-46987 is actually reachable in your own applications and APIs, then verifies each finding before reporting it. That tells you if the weakness is a real, exploitable risk in your environment or a false positive you can safely deprioritize.

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