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linux — security advisory

Type: advisorySources: OSVAdvisory ID: DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: improve robustness of the audit queue handling If the audit daemon were ever to get stuck in a stopped state the kernel's kauditd_thread() could get blocked attempting to send audit records to the userspace audit daemon. With the kernel thread blocked it is possible that the audit queue could grow unbounded as certain audit record generating events must be exempt from the queue limits else the system enter a deadlock state. This patch resolves this problem by lowering the kernel thread's socket sending timeout from MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT to HZ/10 and tweaks the kauditd_send_queue() function to better manage the various audit queues when connection problems occur between the kernel and the audit daemon. With this patch, the backlog may temporarily grow beyond the defined limits when the audit daemon is stopped and the system is under heavy audit pressure, but kauditd_thread() will continue to make progress and drain the queues as it would for other connection problems. For example, with the audit daemon put into a stopped state and the system configured to audit every syscall it was still possible to shutdown the system without a kernel panic, deadlock, etc.; granted, the system was slow to shutdown but that is to be expected given the extreme pressure of recording every syscall. The timeout value of HZ/10 was chosen primarily through experimentation and this developer's "gut feeling". There is likely no

Products
linux
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
5.15.15-1
CVEs
CVE-2021-47603
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
1 Nov 2026, 01:15 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603

core-osv · Original source

Published 19 Jun 2024, 15:15 UTC

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: improve robustness of the audit queue handling If the audit daemon were ever to get stuck in a stopped state the kernel's kauditd_thread() could get blocked attempting to send audit records to the userspace audit daemon. With the kernel thread blocked it is possible that the audit queue could grow unbounded as certain audit record generating events must be exempt from the queue limits else the system enter a deadlock state. This patch resolves this problem by lowering the kernel thread's socket sending timeout from MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT to HZ/10 and tweaks the kauditd_send_queue() function to better manage the various audit queues when connection problems occur between the kernel and the audit daemon. With this patch, the backlog may temporarily grow beyond the defined limits when the audit daemon is stopped and the system is under heavy audit pressure, but kauditd_thread() will continue to make progress and drain the queues as it would for other connection problems. For example, with the audit daemon put into a stopped state and the system configured to audit every syscall it was still possible to shutdown the system without a kernel panic, deadlock, etc.; granted, the system was slow to shutdown but that is to be expected given the extreme pressure of recording every syscall. The timeout value of HZ/10 was chosen primarily through experimentation and this developer's "gut feeling". There is likely no

osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603

linux

Fixed versions: 5.15.15-1

linux

Fixed versions: 5.15.15-1

linux

Fixed versions: 5.15.15-1

Complete source record
{
  "id": "38ed84e1925ea648412bb31552eb51d5fe83f4bf36e4fed6d84f78c74697f1ec",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603",
    "summary": "In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: audit: improve robustness of the audit queue handling If the audit daemon were ever to get stuck in a stopped state the kernel's kauditd_thread() could get blocked attempting to send audit records to the userspace audit daemon. With the kernel thread blocked it is possible that the audit queue could grow unbounded as certain audit record generating events must be exempt from the queue limits else the system enter a deadlock state. This patch resolves this problem by lowering the kernel thread's socket sending timeout from MAX_SCHEDULE_TIMEOUT to HZ/10 and tweaks the kauditd_send_queue() function to better manage the various audit queues when connection problems occur between the kernel and the audit daemon. With this patch, the backlog may temporarily grow beyond the defined limits when the audit daemon is stopped and the system is under heavy audit pressure, but kauditd_thread() will continue to make progress and drain the queues as it would for other connection problems. For example, with the audit daemon put into a stopped state and the system configured to audit every syscall it was still possible to shutdown the system without a kernel panic, deadlock, etc.; granted, the system was slow to shutdown but that is to be expected given the extreme pressure of recording every syscall. The timeout value of HZ/10 was chosen primarily through experimentation and this developer's \"gut feeling\". There is likely no ",
    "evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603",
    "products": [
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "linux",
          "evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "5.15.15-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "linux",
          "evidence": "/affected/1/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "5.15.15-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/1/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      },
      {
        "name": {
          "value": "linux",
          "evidence": "/affected/2/package/name"
        },
        "prerequisites": [],
        "fixed_versions": [
          {
            "value": "5.15.15-1",
            "evidence": "/affected/2/ranges"
          }
        ],
        "affected_versions": []
      }
    ],
    "severity": "medium",
    "structured": {
      "id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603",
      "aliases": [
        "DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "5.15.15-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "linux",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:12"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
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                  "fixed": "5.15.15-1"
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              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "linux",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=trixie",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:13"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        },
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "type": "ECOSYSTEM",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "5.15.15-1"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "package": {
            "name": "linux",
            "purl": "pkg:deb/debian/linux?arch=source&distro=forky",
            "ecosystem": "Debian:14"
          },
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2021-47603.json"
          },
          "ecosystem_specific": {
            "urgency": "not yet assigned"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-23T18:04:20.893158884Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "upstream": [
        "CVE-2021-47603"
      ],
      "references": [
        "https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-47603"
      ]
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2021-47603",
        "evidence": "/upstream"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 423504,
  "published_at": "2024-06-19T15:15:54.863+00:00"
}