Memory leak in Linux kernel phy driver

Published: 2024-05-30 | Updated: 2025-05-14

Risk	Low
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	1
CVE-ID	CVE-2021-47416
CWE-ID	CWE-401
Exploitation vector	Local
Public exploit	N/A
Vulnerable software	Linux kernel Operating systems & Components / Operating system
Vendor	Linux Foundation

Security Bulletin

This security bulletin contains one low risk vulnerability.

1) Memory leak

EUVDB-ID: #VU89967

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 4.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-47416

CWE-ID: CWE-401 - Missing release of memory after effective lifetime

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to memory leak within the __mdiobus_register() function in drivers/net/phy/mdio_bus.c. A local user can perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Linux kernel: 4.4 - 5.15 rc7

CPE2.3

External links

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.