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CVE Record

CVE-2021-47617: PCI: pciehp: Fix infinite loop in IRQ handler upon power fault

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: pciehp: Fix infinite loop in IRQ handler upon power fault The Power Fault Detected bit in the Slot Status register differs from all other hotplug events in that it is sticky: It can only be cleared after turning off slot power. Per PCIe r5.0, sec. 6.7.1.8: If a power controller detects a main power fault on the hot-plug slot, it must automatically set its internal main power fault latch [...]. The main power fault latch is cleared when software turns off power to the hot-plug slot. The stickiness used to cause interrupt storms and infinite loops which were fixed in 2009 by commits 5651c48cfafe ("PCI pciehp: fix power fault interrupt storm problem") and 99f0169c17f3 ("PCI: pciehp: enable software notification on empty slots"). Unfortunately in 2020 the infinite loop issue was inadvertently reintroduced by commit 8edf5332c393 ("PCI: pciehp: Fix MSI interrupt race"): The hardirq handler pciehp_isr() clears the PFD bit until pciehp's power_fault_detected flag is set. That happens in the IRQ thread pciehp_ist(), which never learns of the event because the hardirq handler is stuck in an infinite loop. Fix by setting the power_fault_detected flag already in the hardirq handler.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This Linux kernel flaw can make a system spin inside an interrupt handler after a PCIe hot-plug slot reports a power fault. The business impact is availability: affected systems with PCIe hotplug hardware may become unstable or unresponsive under that fault condition.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted availability issue, not evidence of broad remote compromise. Patch during the next normal kernel maintenance cycle, sooner for hardware platforms relying on PCIe hotplug or with prior slot power-fault events.

Technical view

The pciehp driver mishandled the sticky Power Fault Detected bit. A 2020 MSI race fix reintroduced an infinite hardirq loop because the threaded handler never set power_fault_detected. The resolved fix sets that flag in the hardirq handler.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to Linux systems using affected kernel builds with PCIe hotplug support and hardware slots capable of reporting power faults. The supplied data names Linux kernel versions and stable commits but does not provide distribution package mappings.

Exploitation context

The bundle does not show KEV listing, active exploitation, public exploit use, or remote attack evidence. The apparent trigger is a PCIe slot power-fault event, making this primarily an availability risk in relevant hardware environments.

Researcher notes

Evidence is strongest for root cause and upstream fix commits. Severity scoring, CWE mapping, exploitability details, and downstream distro package status are not provided in the bundle, so validation should focus on kernel lineage and pciehp exposure.

Mitigation direction

  • Update to a vendor kernel containing the referenced stable fixes.
  • Check Linux distribution advisories for exact fixed package versions.
  • Prioritize systems with PCIe hotplug slots or pciehp enabled.
  • Apply normal kernel reboot procedures after patching.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory running kernel versions across Linux hosts.
  • Check whether pciehp is enabled or loaded on exposed systems.
  • Map vendor kernels to the referenced upstream stable fixes.
  • Review system logs for PCIe hotplug power fault events.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
8

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

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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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
7Source 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

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

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
LinuxLinuxa8cc52270f3d8e8f4faf01ffd6c4a95bbfb55ba4, 4667358dab9cc07da044d5bc087065545b1000df, 8edf5332c39340b9583cf9cba659eb7ec71f75b5, 8edf5332c39340b9583cf9cba659eb7ec71f75b5, 8edf5332c39340b9583cf9cba659eb7ec71f75b5, 8edf5332c39340b9583cf9cba659eb7ec71f75b5unaffected
LinuxLinux5.7, 0, 4.19.233, 5.4.177, 5.10.97, 5.15.20, 5.16.6, 5.17affected
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.