CVE-2021-4204
kernel: improper input validation may lead to privilege escalation
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · January 11, 2022
Updated · June 28, 2026
Description
An out-of-bounds (OOB) memory access flaw was found in the Linux kernel's eBPF due to an Improper Input Validation. This flaw allows a local attacker with a special privilege to crash the system or leak internal information.
Statement
The default Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel prevents unprivileged users from being able to use eBPF by the kernel.unprivileged_bpf_disabled sysctl. This would require a privileged user with CAP_SYS_ADMIN or root to be able to abuse this flaw reducing its attack space.
As successful exploitation of this bug has pre-requisites that are in general considered bad practises, this bug is rated as Moderate.
CVSS score applicability
The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.
Mitigation
For the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 the eBPF for unprivileged users is always disabled. For the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 to confirm the current state, inspect the sysctl with the command:
cat /proc/sys/kernel/unprivileged_bpf_disabled
The setting of 1 would mean that unprivileged users can not use eBPF, mitigating the flaw.
A kernel update will be required to mitigate the flaw for the root or users with CAP_SYS_ADMIN capabilities.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 7CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-119 · Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer