CVE-2021-46981: Software Security Vulnerability Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xgg4-mwfh-3vj5
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CVSS 5.5
CWE-476
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-46981 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.5) security vulnerability vulnerability (CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference) affecting Software libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The weakness occurs when the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null.. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2021-46981 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-46981
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xgg4-mwfh-3vj5
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.5
CWE Classification CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference
Affected Product Software
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2021-46981

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Software dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-46981, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Software in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference, where the product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is null. In Software, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nbd: Fix NULL pointer in flush_workqueue Open /dev/nbdX first, the config_refs will be 1 and the pointers in nbd_device are still null. Disconnect /dev/nbdX, then reference a null recv_workq. The protection by config_refs in nbd_genl_disconnect is useless. [ 656.366194] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000020 [ 656.368943] #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode [ 656.369844] #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page [ 656.370717] PGD 10cc87067 P4D 10cc87067 PUD 1074b4067 PMD 0 [ 656.371693] Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP [ 656.372242] CPU: 5 PID: 7977 Comm: nbd-client Not tainted 5.11.0-rc5-00040-g76c057c84d28 #1 [ 656.373661] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS ?-20190727_073836-buildvm-ppc64le-16.ppc.fedoraproject.org-3.fc31 04/01/2014 [ 656.375904] RIP: 0010:mutex_lock+0x29/0x60 [ 656.376627] Code: 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 55 48 89 fd 48 83 05 6f d7 fe 08 01 e8 7a c3 ff ff 48 83 05 6a d7 fe 08 01 31 c0 65 48 8b 14 25 00 6d 01 00 <f0> 48 0f b1 55 d [ 656.378934] RSP: 0018:ffffc900005eb9b0 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 656.379350] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 656.379915] RDX: ffff888104cf2600 RSI: ffffffffaae8f452 RDI: 0000000000000020 [ 656.380473] RBP: 0000000000000020 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88813bd6b318 [ 656.381039] R10: 00000000000000c7 R11: fefefefefefefeff R12: ffff888102710b40 [ 656.381599] R13: ffffc900005eb9e0 R14: ffffffffb2930680 R15: ffff88810770ef00 [ 656.382166] FS: 00007fdf117ebb40(0000) GS:ffff88813bd40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 656.382806] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 656.383261] CR2: 0000000000000020 CR3: 0000000100c84000 CR4: 00000000000006e0 [ 656.383819] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 656.384370] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 656.384927] Call Trace: [ 656.385111] flush_workqueue+0x92/0x6c0 [ 656.385395] nbd_disconnect_and_put+0x81/0xd0 [ 656.385716] nbd_genl_disconnect+0x125/0x2a0 [ 656.386034] genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.0+0x102/0x1b0 [ 656.386422] genl_rcv_msg+0xfc/0x2b0 [ 656.386685] ? nbd_ioctl+0x490/0x490 [ 656.386954] ? genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.0+0x1b0/0x1b0 [ 656.387354] netlink_rcv_skb+0x62/0x180 [ 656.387638] genl_rcv+0x34/0x60 [ 656.387874] netlink_unicast+0x26d/0x590 [ 656.388162] netlink_sendmsg+0x398/0x6c0 [ 656.388451] ? netlink_rcv_skb+0x180/0x180 [ 656.388750] ____sys_sendmsg+0x1da/0x320 [ 656.389038] ? ____sys_recvmsg+0x130/0x220 [ 656.389334] ___sys_sendmsg+0x8e/0xf0 [ 656.389605] ? ___sys_recvmsg+0xa2/0xf0 [ 656.389889] ? handle_mm_fault+0x1671/0x21d0 [ 656.390201] __sys_sendmsg+0x6d/0xe0 [ 656.390464] __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x23/0x30 [ 656.390751] do_syscall_64+0x45/0x70 [ 656.391017] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9 To fix it, just add if (nbd->recv_workq) to nbd_disconnect_and_put().

References

NVD — CVE-2021-46981 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-46981
git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c4962df93... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c4962df938891af9ab4775f5224ef8601764107
git.kernel.org/stable/c/54b78ba7e9... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/54b78ba7e96e5fe1edb8054e375d31a6c0dc60dc
git.kernel.org/stable/c/79ebe9110f... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79ebe9110fa458d58f1fceb078e2068d7ad37390
git.kernel.org/stable/c/b31d237796... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b31d237796fd618379ec8e0f4de3370b5e4aeee7
git.kernel.org/stable/c/cde4b55cfb... WEB
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cde4b55cfb24522dcbba80bbdb0c082303e76c43

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-46981?
CVE-2021-46981 is a security vulnerability in Software classified as a security vulnerability vulnerability under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference.
Which Software versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches.
What version fixes CVE-2021-46981?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-46981?
CVE-2021-46981 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-46981?
CVE-2021-46981 is classified under CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference (The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-46981?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-xgg4-mwfh-3vj5",
  "modified" : "2024-12-06T18:30:44Z",
  "published" : "2024-02-28T09:30:36Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-46981" ],
  "details" : "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:\n\nnbd: Fix NULL pointer in flush_workqueue\n\nOpen /dev/nbdX first, the config_refs will be 1 and\nthe pointers in nbd_device are still null. Disconnect\n/dev/nbdX, then reference a null recv_workq. The\nprotection by config_refs in nbd_genl_disconnect is useless.\n\n[  656.366194] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000020\n[  656.368943] #PF: supervisor write access in kernel mode\n[  656.369844] #PF: error_code(0x0002) - not-present page\n[  656.370717] PGD 10cc87067 P4D 10cc87067 PUD 1074b4067 PMD 0\n[  656.371693] Oops: 0002 [#1] SMP\n[  656.372242] CPU: 5 PID: 7977 Comm: nbd-client Not tainted 5.11.0-rc5-00040-g76c057c84d28 #1\n[  656.373661] Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS ?-20190727_073836-buildvm-ppc64le-16.ppc.fedoraproject.org-3.fc31 04/01/2014\n[  656.375904] RIP: 0010:mutex_lock+0x29/0x60\n[  656.376627] Code: 00 0f 1f 44 00 00 55 48 89 fd 48 83 05 6f d7 fe 08 01 e8 7a c3 ff ff 48 83 05 6a d7 fe 08 01 31 c0 65 48 8b 14 25 00 6d 01 00 <f0> 48 0f b1 55 d\n[  656.378934] RSP: 0018:ffffc900005eb9b0 EFLAGS: 00010246\n[  656.379350] RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000\n[  656.379915] RDX: ffff888104cf2600 RSI: ffffffffaae8f452 RDI: 0000000000000020\n[  656.380473] RBP: 0000000000000020 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: ffff88813bd6b318\n[  656.381039] R10: 00000000000000c7 R11: fefefefefefefeff R12: ffff888102710b40\n[  656.381599] R13: ffffc900005eb9e0 R14: ffffffffb2930680 R15: ffff88810770ef00\n[  656.382166] FS:  00007fdf117ebb40(0000) GS:ffff88813bd40000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000\n[  656.382806] CS:  0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033\n[  656.383261] CR2: 0000000000000020 CR3: 0000000100c84000 CR4: 00000000000006e0\n[  656.383819] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000\n[  656.384370] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400\n[  656.384927] Call Trace:\n[  656.385111]  flush_workqueue+0x92/0x6c0\n[  656.385395]  nbd_disconnect_and_put+0x81/0xd0\n[  656.385716]  nbd_genl_disconnect+0x125/0x2a0\n[  656.386034]  genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.0+0x102/0x1b0\n[  656.386422]  genl_rcv_msg+0xfc/0x2b0\n[  656.386685]  ? nbd_ioctl+0x490/0x490\n[  656.386954]  ? genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.0+0x1b0/0x1b0\n[  656.387354]  netlink_rcv_skb+0x62/0x180\n[  656.387638]  genl_rcv+0x34/0x60\n[  656.387874]  netlink_unicast+0x26d/0x590\n[  656.388162]  netlink_sendmsg+0x398/0x6c0\n[  656.388451]  ? netlink_rcv_skb+0x180/0x180\n[  656.388750]  ____sys_sendmsg+0x1da/0x320\n[  656.389038]  ? ____sys_recvmsg+0x130/0x220\n[  656.389334]  ___sys_sendmsg+0x8e/0xf0\n[  656.389605]  ? ___sys_recvmsg+0xa2/0xf0\n[  656.389889]  ? handle_mm_fault+0x1671/0x21d0\n[  656.390201]  __sys_sendmsg+0x6d/0xe0\n[  656.390464]  __x64_sys_sendmsg+0x23/0x30\n[  656.390751]  do_syscall_64+0x45/0x70\n[  656.391017]  entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xa9\n\nTo fix it, just add if (nbd->recv_workq) to nbd_disconnect_and_put().",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-46981"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1c4962df938891af9ab4775f5224ef8601764107"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/54b78ba7e96e5fe1edb8054e375d31a6c0dc60dc"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/79ebe9110fa458d58f1fceb078e2068d7ad37390"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b31d237796fd618379ec8e0f4de3370b5e4aeee7"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/cde4b55cfb24522dcbba80bbdb0c082303e76c43"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-476" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : false,
    "github_reviewed_at" : null,
    "nvd_published_at" : "2024-02-28T09:15:37Z"
  }
}