What is CVE-2021-38204?

CVE-2021-38204 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 6.8/10. Published 2021-08-08.

How severe is CVE-2021-38204?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.8 out of 10.

Use After Free in Linux Kernel

CVE-2021-38204

drivers/usb/host/max3421-hcd.c in the Linux kernel before 5.13.6 allows physically proximate attackers to cause a denial of service (use-after-free and panic) by removing a MAX-3421 USB device in certain situations.

Vulnerability class: Use-After-Free

Published 2021-08-08 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.8 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (24.5th percentile), scored 2026-10-07.

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 25th percentile — 24.5% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Linux Kernel
Debian Linux — versions 9.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-416 — Use After Free

References

github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/b5fdf5c6e6bee35837e160c00ac89327bdad031b (Patch, Third Party Advisory)
cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.13.6 (Patch, Mailing List, Vendor Advisory)
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-38204?: CVE-2021-38204 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Linux Kernel, classified under Use After Free. CVSS score: 6.8/10. Published 2021-08-08.
How severe is CVE-2021-38204?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.8 out of 10.