CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-46959 — Linux Linux Kernel security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: spi: Fix use-after-free with devm_spi_alloc_* We can't rely on the contents of the devres list during spi_unregister_controller(), as the list is already torn down at the time we perform devres_find() for devm_spi_release_controller. This causes devices registered with devm_spi_alloc_{master,slave}() to be mistakenly identified as legacy, non-devm managed devices and have their reference counters decremented below 0. ------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 660 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0x108/0x174 [<b0396f04>] (refcount_warn_saturate) from [<b03c56a4>] (kobject_put+0x90/0x98) [<b03c5614>] (kobject_put) from [<b0447b4c>] (put_device+0x20/0x24) r4:b6700140 [<b0447b2c>] (put_device) from [<b07515e8>] (devm_spi_release_controller+0x3c/0x40) [<b07515ac>] (devm_spi_release_controller) from [<b045343c>] (release_nodes+0x84/0xc4) r5:b6700180 r4:b6700100 [<b04533b8>] (release_nodes) from [<b0454160>] (devres_release_all+0x5c/0x60) r8:b1638c54 r7:b117ad94 r6:b1638c10 r5:b117ad94 r4:b163dc10 [<b0454104>] (devres_release_all) from [<b044e41c>] (__device_release_driver+0x144/0x1ec) r5:b117ad…

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2024-02-29
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
linux/kernel
Weaknesses
CWE-416

Affected products

  • linux / linux_kernel

Showing 1 representative product identities from 8 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Use-after-free, double free, and expired resource use

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Check exposure

  • Trace ownership, references, callbacks, asynchronous tasks, and teardown paths around the affected object or resource.
  • Identify reachable inputs and timing or state transitions that can release the object while references remain.
  • Confirm affected builds, allocators, feature flags, architectures, and process privileges.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained ownership or lifetime fix and rebuild all artifacts containing the affected native code.
  • Use explicit ownership, safe reference management, cancellation and join semantics, and idempotent teardown.
  • Add deterministic lifetime tests plus isolated sanitizer and concurrency coverage for shutdown and error paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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