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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2021-38166 json

In kernel/bpf/hashtab.c in the Linux kernel through 5.13.8, there is an integer overflow and out-of-bounds write when many elements are pla…

published 5y ago modified last mo. also EUVD-2021-24636

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.3%
EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 24%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

In kernel/bpf/hashtab.c in the Linux kernel through 5.13.8, there is an integer overflow and out-of-bounds write when many elements are placed in a single bucket. NOTE: exploitation might be impractical without the CAP_SYS_ADMIN capability.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 5.10.60, 5.13.12
  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.14.6-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2021-38166

  • linux-aws-5.11 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.11.0-1020.21~20.04.2
  • linux-gcp-5.11 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.11.0-1021.23~20.04.1
  • linux-hwe-5.11 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.11.0-38.42~20.04.1
  • linux-oem-5.10 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.10.0-1050.52
  • linux-oem-5.13 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.13.0-1014.18
  • linux-azure-5.11 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.11.0-1020.21~20.04.1
  • linux-riscv-5.11 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.11.0-1021.22~20.04.1
  • linux-oracle-5.11 Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.11.0-1020.21~20.04.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2021-38166

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel-default SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP3, SLE Module for Legacy 15 SP3, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 +3 more 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-default-base SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP3, SLE Micro 5.1 5.3.18-59.24.1.18.12.1
  • kernel-64kb SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-syms SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-source SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP3, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-preempt SLE Workstation Extension 15 SP3, SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP3, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-zfcpdump SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-obs-build SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP3 5.3.18-59.24.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2021:3205-2SUSE-SU-2021:3205-1SUSE-SU-2021:3179-1

  • kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 5.14.6-1.4
  • kernel-source openSUSE Tumbleweed 6.6.17-1.1
  • dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-source openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-default openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2024:10728-1openSUSE-SU-2024:13704-1openSUSE-SU-2021:3205-1openSUSE-SU-2021:3179-1

  • kernel CBL-Mariner 2.0 5.10.78.1-1

azure linux advisories AZL-6581

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

  • linux-hardened Arch Linux 5.13.13.hardened1-1
  • linux Arch Linux 5.13.12.arch1-1
  • linux-zen Arch Linux 5.13.12.zen1-1
  • linux-lts Arch Linux 5.10.60-1

arch linux advisories AVG-2234AVG-2295AVG-2296AVG-2297

Is CVE-2021-38166 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

Check with Fencer

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2021-38166 updated cvss 6.4

kernel: integer overflow and out-of-bounds write in kernel/bpf/hashtab.c when many elements are placed in a single bucket

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, kernel-alt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-tools, +3 more
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-core, kernel-tools, +29 more
    affected: workaround, no fix available
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, kernel-rt-kvm, kernel-rt-trace, kernel-rt-debug-kvm, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +82 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
last mo.

Exploit prediction

0.32% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 24% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 4.6 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.