CVE-2021-47556
ethtool: ioctl: fix potential NULL deref in ethtool_set_coalesce()
- Published
- Updated
- Reserved
- Assigned by
- Linux
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ethtool: ioctl: fix potential NULL deref in ethtool_set_coalesce() ethtool_set_coalesce() now uses both the .get_coalesce() and .set_coalesce() callbacks. But the check for their availability is buggy, so changing the coalesce settings on a device where the driver provides only _one_ of the callbacks results in a NULL pointer dereference instead of an -EOPNOTSUPP. Fix the condition so that the availability of both callbacks is ensured. This also matches the netlink code. Note that reproducing this requires some effort - it only affects the legacy ioctl path, and needs a specific combination of driver options: - have .get_coalesce() and .coalesce_supported but no .set_coalesce(), or - have .set_coalesce() but no .get_coalesce(). Here eg. ethtool doesn't cause the crash as it first attempts to call ethtool_get_coalesce() and bails out on error.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Medium5.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.18% · top 92% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.5.
Weakness
Affected products
References (2)
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
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[](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2021-47556)Record last updated .