Buffer overflow in Polkit
CVE-2021-4034
A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid tool designed to allow unprivileged users to run commands as privileged users according predefined policies. The current ve…
Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow
EPSS: 0.881 (99.5th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
Affected products
- N/a Polkit — versions all
Weakness classification (CWE)
CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)
This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on . 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: .
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/RHSB-2022-001
- www.qualys.com/2022/01/25/cve-2021-4034/pwnkit.txt
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi
- gitlab.freedesktop.org/polkit/polkit/-/commit/a2bf5c9c83b6ae46cbd5c779d3055bff8…
- www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/166196/Polkit-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.h…
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/166200/Polkit-pkexec-Privilege-Escalation.html
- www.suse.com/support/kb/doc/
- cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-330556.pdf
- www.starwindsoftware.com/security/sw-20220818-0001/
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2021-4034?
- CVE-2021-4034 is a vulnerability in Polkit, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. Published 2022-01-28.
- Is CVE-2021-4034 known to be exploited?
- Yes. CVE-2021-4034 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-06-27), indicating it is being actively exploited. 579 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.