What is CVE-2021-3560?

CVE-2021-3560 is a high-severity vulnerability in Polkit Project, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2022-02-16.

How severe is CVE-2021-3560?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-3560 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2021-3560 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-05-12), indicating it is being actively exploited. 231 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Auth bypass in Polkit Project

CVE-2021-3560

It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the privileges of the requestor to the root user. This flaw could be used by an unprivileged local attacker to, for example, create a new local administrator. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control

Published 2022-02-16 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.237 (97.8th percentile), scored 2026-10-18.

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 98th percentile — 97.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.237 · newest: 0.237 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Polkit Project
Canonical Ubuntu Linux — versions 20.04
Debian Linux — versions 11.0
Red Hat Enterprise Linux — versions 8.0, 7.0
Red Hat Openshift Container Platform — versions 4.7
Red Hat Virtualization — versions 4.0
Red Hat Virtualization Host — versions 4.0
Polkit — versions polkit 0.119

Weakness classification (CWE)

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2023-05-12. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2023-06-02.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (Patch, Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory)
github.blog/2021-06-10-privilege-escalation-polkit-root-on-linux-with-bug/ (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/172836/polkit-Authentication-Bypass.html (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/172846/Facebook-Fizz-Denial-Of-Service.html (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-3560?: CVE-2021-3560 is a high-severity vulnerability in Polkit Project, classified under Incorrect Authorization. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2022-02-16.
How severe is CVE-2021-3560?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-3560 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2021-3560 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-05-12), indicating it is being actively exploited. 231 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.