NULL pointer dereference in Vtk
CVE-2021-42521
There is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in VTK before 9.2.5, and it lies in IO/Infovis/vtkXMLTreeReader.cxx. The vendor didn't check the return value of libxml2 API 'xmlDocGetRootElement', and try to dereference it. It is unsafe as the return value can be NULL and that NULL pointer dereference may crash the application.
Vulnerability class: DoS (Denial of Service)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.013 (69.1th percentile), scored .
Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 69th percentile — 69.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.013 · newest: 0.013 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Vtk
- Vtk — versions VTK - 9.0.0 and before
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/issues/17818 (Exploit, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
- discourse.vtk.org/t/vtk-9-2-5-is-out/10549
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/… (vendor-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2021-42521?
- CVE-2021-42521 is a high-severity vulnerability in Vtk, classified under Uncontrolled Resource Consumption. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2022-08-25.
- How severe is CVE-2021-42521?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.