CVE-2021-47563: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: avoid bpf_prog refcount underflow Ice driver has the routines for managing XDP resour

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: avoid bpf_prog refcount underflow Ice driver has the routines for managing XDP resour

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: avoid bpf_prog refcount underflow Ice driver has the routines for managing XDP resources that are shared between ndo_bpf op and VSI rebuild flow. The latter takes place for example when user changes queue count on an interface via ethtool's set_channels(). There is an issue around the bpf_prog refcounting when VSI is being rebuilt - since ice_prepare_xdp_rings() is called with vsi->xdp_prog as an argument that is used later on by ice_vsi_assign_bpf_prog(), same bpf_prog pointers are swapped with each other. Then it is also interpreted as an 'old_prog' which in turn causes us to call bpf_prog_put on it that will decrement its refcount. Below splat can be interpreted in a way that due to zero refcount of a bpf_prog it is wiped out from the system while kernel still tries to refer to it: [ 481.069429] BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffc9000640f038 [ 481.077390] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 481.083335] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 481.089276] PGD 100000067 P4D 100000067 PUD 1001cb067 PMD 106d2b067 PTE 0 [ 481.097141] Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI [ 481.1

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 0.21%, higher than 11% 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.

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