CVE-2021-47462: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: do not allow illegal MPOL_F_NUMA_BALANCING

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: do not allow illegal MPOL_F_NUMA_BALANCING | MPOL_LOCAL in mbind() syzbot re

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/mempolicy: do not allow illegal MPOL_F_NUMA_BALANCING | MPOL_LOCAL in mbind() syzbot reported access to unitialized memory in mbind() [1] Issue came with commit bda420b98505 ("numa balancing: migrate on fault among multiple bound nodes") This commit added a new bit in MPOL_MODE_FLAGS, but only checked valid combination (MPOL_F_NUMA_BALANCING can only be used with MPOL_BIND) in do_set_mempolicy() This patch moves the check in sanitize_mpol_flags() so that it is also used by mbind() [1] BUG: KMSAN: uninit-value in __mpol_equal+0x567/0x590 mm/mempolicy.c:2260 __mpol_equal+0x567/0x590 mm/mempolicy.c:2260 mpol_equal include/linux/mempolicy.h:105 [inline] vma_merge+0x4a1/0x1e60 mm/mmap.c:1190 mbind_range+0xcc8/0x1e80 mm/mempolicy.c:811 do_mbind+0xf42/0x15f0 mm/mempolicy.c:1333 kernel_mbind mm/mempolicy.c:1483 [inline] __do_sys_mbind mm/mempolicy.c:1490 [inline] __se_sys_mbind+0x437/0xb80 mm/mempolicy.c:1486 __x64_sys_mbind+0x19d/0x200 mm/mempolicy.c:1486 do_syscall_x64 arch/x86/entry/common.c:51 [inline] do_syscall_64+0x54/0xd0 arch/x86/entry/common.c:82 entry_SYSCALL_64_a

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67

What it means for a small business

Linux is on the computers, phones or browsers your team uses every day. Turn on automatic updates and restart: most of these fixes only take effect after a restart.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.18%, higher than 7% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 31, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

Weekly security brief

The flaws that hit local websites, every Friday.

One short email: what got exploited this week, which WordPress plugins broke, and what to check. Unsubscribe in one click.