Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-46976 is a Linux kernel defect in the Intel i915 graphics driver that can crash the kernel during retire handling. The public record describes a wrong function address jump and an invalid opcode crash. Sources do not show data theft, privilege escalation, or active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted availability issue, not a broad emergency. Patch through normal Linux kernel maintenance, prioritizing fleets with Intel graphics and any devices showing kernel crash symptoms.
Technical view
The drm/i915 retire logic stores flags in the two low bits of a retire-function pointer. The auto_retire function was not guaranteed to be 4-byte aligned, so masked pointer handling could call the wrong address and crash. Kernel stable commits are referenced as the resolution.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant to Linux systems using the Intel i915 DRM graphics driver and kernel versions listed in the CVE source bundle. Confirm through your distribution’s kernel package mapping, because distro backports may not match upstream version numbers directly.
Exploitation context
The provided sources show a kernel crash trace and mark KEV as false. They do not provide evidence of active exploitation, public weaponization, remote reachability, or a practical attacker path.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record, crash description, affected version data, and kernel stable references. No CVSS, CWE, exploitability analysis, or vendor-specific package matrix is provided in the source bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Update to a vendor-supported kernel containing the referenced stable fixes.
- Check Linux distribution advisories for backported i915 fixes.
- Prioritize user workstations, laptops, and servers using Intel graphics.
- Avoid direct wrangler or deployment assumptions; this is an OS patching issue.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Linux kernel versions and loaded i915 modules.
- Map distro kernel builds to the upstream stable commit references.
- Search system logs for i915 auto_retire or invalid opcode crash traces.
- Verify patched systems remain stable under normal graphics workloads.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2021-46976 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/805c990a9c54b9451d3daff640b850909c31ab9dCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/608441de3976c526b02af4d7063093c8adf351e3CVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f7520970d5353cb1fa4d9089a1b23669c5da97feCVE reference, Linux
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/402be8a101190969fc7ff122d07e262df86e132bCVE reference, Linux
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.