CVE-2021-47531
kernel: drm/msm: Fix mmap to include VM_IO and VM_DONTDUMP
Severity
ModerateRed Hat Product Security
CVSS 3.1
Review impact separately from score.
Published · May 24, 2024
Updated · November 21, 2025
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
drm/msm: Fix mmap to include VM_IO and VM_DONTDUMP
In commit 510410bfc034 ("drm/msm: Implement mmap as GEM object function") we switched to a new/cleaner method of doing things. That's good, but we missed a little bit.
Before that commit, we used to first run through the
drm_gem_mmap_obj() case where obj->funcs->mmap() was NULL. That meant
that we ran:
vma->vm_flags |= VM_IO | VM_PFNMAP | VM_DONTEXPAND | VM_DONTDUMP; vma->vm_page_prot = pgprot_writecombine(vm_get_page_prot(vma->vm_flags)); vma->vm_page_prot = pgprot_decrypted(vma->vm_page_prot);
...and then we modified those mappings with our own. Now that
obj->funcs->mmap() is no longer NULL we don't run the default
code. It looks like the fact that the vm_flags got VM_IO / VM_DONTDUMP
was important because we're now getting crashes on Chromebooks that
use ARC++ while logging out. Specifically a crash that looks like this
(this is on a 5.10 kernel w/ relevant backports but also seen on a
5.15 kernel):
Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address ffffffc008000000 Mem abort info: ESR = 0x96000006 EC = 0x25: DABT (current EL), IL = 32 bits SET = 0, FnV = 0 EA = 0, S1PTW = 0 Data abort info: ISV = 0, ISS = 0x00000006 CM = 0, WnR = 0 swapper pgtable: 4k pages, 39-bit VAs, pgdp=000000008293d000 [ffffffc008000000] pgd=00000001002b3003, p4d=00000001002b3003, pud=00000001002b3003, pmd=0000000000000000 Internal error: Oops: 96000006 [#1] PREEMPT SMP [...] CPU: 7 PID: 15734 Comm: crash_dump64 Tainted: G W 5.10.67 #1 [...] Hardware name: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. sc7280 IDP SKU2 platform (DT) pstate: 80400009 (Nzcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO BTYPE=--) pc : __arch_copy_to_user+0xc0/0x30c lr : copyout+0xac/0x14c [...] Call trace: __arch_copy_to_user+0xc0/0x30c copy_page_to_iter+0x1a0/0x294 process_vm_rw_core+0x240/0x408 process_vm_rw+0x110/0x16c __arm64_sys_process_vm_readv+0x30/0x3c el0_svc_common+0xf8/0x250 do_el0_svc+0x30/0x80 el0_svc+0x10/0x1c el0_sync_handler+0x78/0x108 el0_sync+0x184/0x1c0 Code: f8408423 f80008c3 910020c6 36100082 (b8404423)
Let's add the two flags back in.
While we're at it, the fact that we aren't running the default means that we don't need to clear out VM_PFNMAP, so remove that and save an instruction.
NOTE: it was confirmed that VM_IO was the important flag to fix the problem I was seeing, but adding back VM_DONTDUMP seems like a sane thing to do so I'm doing that too.
Statement
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is not vulnerable to this CVE, as it does not affect the versions or configurations of the Linux kernel used in its distributions.
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
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
CVSS / CWE
CVSS 3.1 · 4.4CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE-824 · Access of Uninitialized Pointer