CVE-2021-47396

mac80211-hwsim: fix late beacon hrtimer handling

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: May 21, 2024 at 03:03 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 04:17 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mac80211-hwsim: fix late beacon hrtimer handling Thomas explained in https://lore.kernel.org/r/87mtoeb4hb.ffs@tglx that our handling of the hrtimer here is wrong: If the timer fires late (e.g. due to vCPU scheduling, as reported by Dmitry/syzbot) then it tries to actually rearm the timer at the next deadline, which might be in the past already: 1 2 3 N N+1 | | | ... | | ^ intended to fire here (1) ^ next deadline here (2) ^ actually fired here The next time it fires, it's later, but will still try to schedule for the next deadline (now 3), etc. until it catches up with N, but that might take a long time, causing stalls etc. Now, all of this is simulation, so we just have to fix it, but note that the behaviour is wrong even per spec, since there's no value then in sending all those beacons unaligned - they should be aligned to the TBTT (1, 2, 3, ... in the picture), and if we're a bit (or a lot) late, then just resume at that point. Therefore, change the code to use hrtimer_forward_now() which will ensure that the next firing of the timer would be at N+1 (in the picture), i.e. the next interval point after the current time.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

3.9 ≤ v < 5.10.713.9 ≤ v < 5.14.103.9 ≤ v < 5.153.9 ≤ v < 5.4.1515.11 ≤ v < 5.14.105.5 ≤ v < 5.10.711e59e467ecf976c782eecd4dc99644802cc60e23.95.15 rc15.15 rc25.15 rc3
Vendor states this is fixed in 2c204cf594df3b9468368dc9d0b24d482d93cda7 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 313bbd1990b6ddfdaa7da098d0c56b098a833572 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 9bee85de2c8155388c09a2e1530a243ec1c96f05 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in ed2adf69e29848d1eb9df99633dde655421c92ed (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 3.9 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.10.71 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.14.10 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.4.151 (unaffected)

References (4)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2c204cf594df3b9468368dc9d0b24d482d93cda7
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/313bbd1990b6ddfdaa7da098d0c56b098a833572
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9bee85de2c8155388c09a2e1530a243ec1c96f05
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ed2adf69e29848d1eb9df99633dde655421c92ed

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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