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CVE Record

CVE-2021-47131: net/tls: Fix use-after-free after the TLS device goes down and up

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/tls: Fix use-after-free after the TLS device goes down and up When a netdev with active TLS offload goes down, tls_device_down is called to stop the offload and tear down the TLS context. However, the socket stays alive, and it still points to the TLS context, which is now deallocated. If a netdev goes up, while the connection is still active, and the data flow resumes after a number of TCP retransmissions, it will lead to a use-after-free of the TLS context. This commit addresses this bug by keeping the context alive until its normal destruction, and implements the necessary fallbacks, so that the connection can resume in software (non-offloaded) kTLS mode. On the TX side tls_sw_fallback is used to encrypt all packets. The RX side already has all the necessary fallbacks, because receiving non-decrypted packets is supported. The thing needed on the RX side is to block resync requests, which are normally produced after receiving non-decrypted packets. The necessary synchronization is implemented for a graceful teardown: first the fallbacks are deployed, then the driver resources are released (it used to be possible to have a tls_dev_resync after tls_dev_del). A new flag called TLS_RX_DEV_DEGRADED is added to indicate the fallback mode. It's used to skip the RX resync logic completely, as it becomes useless, and some objects may be released (for example, resync_async, which is allocated and freed by the driver).

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-47131 is a Linux kernel bug in TLS hardware offload handling. If a network device with active TLS offload goes down and later comes back up while the connection survives, the kernel can reference freed TLS context memory. Exposure appears limited to systems using kTLS device offload.

Executive priority

Treat as a targeted kernel maintenance item, highest for infrastructure using TLS hardware offload or network failover. There is no supplied evidence of broad exploitation, but kernel memory-safety bugs merit timely patching where exposure exists.

Technical view

The flaw is a use-after-free in Linux net/tls. tls_device_down tore down offload state while the socket retained a pointer to the TLS context. When the interface returned and traffic resumed after retransmissions, the stale context could be used. The fix keeps context lifetime aligned with normal destruction and falls back to software kTLS.

Likely exposure

Likely exposed systems are Linux hosts running affected kernels with TLS device offload enabled on capable network hardware and active TLS connections during network-device down/up events. Systems not using kTLS device offload appear less relevant based on the supplied description.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not cite active exploitation, and KEV status is false. The described trigger requires an active TLS offloaded connection, network-device teardown, device recovery, and resumed traffic. Impact details beyond use-after-free are not provided.

Researcher notes

The affected-version data in the bundle is incomplete and partly commit-like, so rely on distribution backports and kernel stable references for exact applicability. Key behavior is graceful teardown: deploy software fallback before releasing driver resources and skip RX resync in degraded mode.

Mitigation direction

  • Apply Linux kernel updates containing the referenced stable fixes.
  • Prioritize hosts using TLS hardware offload on production network interfaces.
  • If patching is delayed, consult vendor guidance on disabling TLS device offload.
  • Track distribution advisories for backported fixed kernel packages.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Linux kernel versions against vendor advisories and the referenced stable commits.
  • Identify whether kTLS device offload is enabled on network adapters.
  • Review affected services for TLS offload usage during interface failover or resets.
  • Confirm patched kernels preserve TLS connections through software fallback behavior.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
5

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

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.

0CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
4Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
CVECVE Program Container
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxe8f69799810c32dd40c6724d829eccc70baad07f, e8f69799810c32dd40c6724d829eccc70baad07f, e8f69799810c32dd40c6724d829eccc70baad07funaffected
LinuxLinux4.18, 0, 5.10.43, 5.12.10, 5.13affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

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