Highly exploitable, CVE-2021-46983 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.
Status: Modified
Last updated: 🕙 04 Aug 2026, 10:16 UTC
Originally published on: 🕘 28 Feb 2024, 09:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 888 days
CVSS Release: version 3
416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
Secondary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2021-46983: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nvmet-rdma: Fix NULL deref when SEND is completed with error When running some traffic and taking down the link on peer, a retry counter exceeded error is received. This leads to nvmet_rdma_error_comp which tried accessing the cq_context to obtain the queue. The cq_context is no longer valid after the fix to use shared CQ mechanism and should be obtained similar to how it is obtained in other functions from the wc->qp. [ 905.786331] nvmet_rdma: SEND for CQE 0x00000000e3337f90 failed with status transport retry counter exceeded (12). [ 905.832048] BUG: unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at 0000000000000048 [ 905.839919] PGD 0 P4D 0 [ 905.842464] Oops: 0000 1 SMP NOPTI [ 905.846144] CPU: 13 PID: 1557 Comm: kworker/13:1H Kdump: loaded Tainted: G OE --------- - - 4.18.0-304.el8.x86_64 #1 [ 905.872135] RIP: 0010:nvmet_rdma_error_comp+0x5/0x1b [nvmet_rdma] [ 905.878259] Code: 19 4f c0 e8 89 b3 a5 f6 e9 5b e0 ff ff 0f b7 75 14 4c 89 ea 48 c7 c7 08 1a 4f c0 e8 71 b3 a5 f6 e9 4b e0 ff ff 0f 1f 44 00 00 <48> 8b 47 48 48 85 c0 74 08 48 89 c7 e9 98 bf 49 00 e9 c3 e3 ff ff [ 905.897135] RSP: 0018:ffffab601c45fe28 EFLAGS: 00010246 [ 905.902387] RAX: 0000000000000065 RBX: ffff9e729ea2f800 RCX: 0000000000000000 [ 905.909558] RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: ffff9e72df9567c8 RDI: 0000000000000000 [ 905.916731] RBP: ffff9e729ea2b400 R08: 000000000000074d R09: 0000000000000074 [ 905.923903] R10: 0000000000000000 R11: ffffab601c45fcc0 R12: 0000000000000010 [ 905.931074] R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000010 R15: ffff9e729ea2f400 [ 905.938247] FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff9e72df940000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 [ 905.938249] CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 [ 905.950067] nvmet_rdma: SEND for CQE 0x00000000c7356cca failed with status transport retry counter exceeded (12). [ 905.961855] CR2: 0000000000000048 CR3: 000000678d010004 CR4: 00000000007706e0 [ 905.961855] DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 [ 905.961856] DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 [ 905.961857] PKRU: 55555554 [ 906.010315] Call Trace: [ 906.012778] __ib_process_cq+0x89/0x170 [ib_core] [ 906.017509] ib_cq_poll_work+0x26/0x80 [ib_core] [ 906.022152] process_one_work+0x1a7/0x360 [ 906.026182] ? create_worker+0x1a0/0x1a0 [ 906.030123] worker_thread+0x30/0x390 [ 906.033802] ? create_worker+0x1a0/0x1a0 [ 906.037744] kthread+0x116/0x130 [ 906.040988] ? kthread_flush_work_fn+0x10/0x10 [ 906.045456] ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x40
The exploitability of CVE-2021-46983 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2021-46983 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2021-46983, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2021-46983, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.
EPSS Score: 0.042% (probability of exploit)
EPSS Percentile: 5.07%
(lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 94.93% of others.
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