What is CVE-2021-46854?

CVE-2021-46854 is a high-severity vulnerability in Proftpd, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2022-11-23.

How severe is CVE-2021-46854?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2021-46854 known to be exploited?

15 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Vulnerability in Proftpd

CVE-2021-46854

mod_radius in ProFTPD before 1.3.7c allows memory disclosure to RADIUS servers because it copies blocks of 16 characters.

Published 2022-11-23 · last modified 2026-06-17.

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:H/I:N/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.012 (67.8th percentile), scored 2026-09-29.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 68th percentile — 67.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.011 · newest: 0.012 · change: +0.001

Affected products

Proftpd

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-401 — Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

github.com/proftpd/proftpd/issues/1284 (Exploit, Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
github.com/proftpd/proftpd/pull/1285 (Third Party Advisory)
bugs.gentoo.org/811495 (Third Party Advisory, Issue Tracking)
www.proftpd.org/docs/RELEASE_NOTES-1.3.7e (Release Notes, Vendor Advisory)
security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-03 (vendor-advisory)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-46854?: CVE-2021-46854 is a high-severity vulnerability in Proftpd, classified under Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2022-11-23.
How severe is CVE-2021-46854?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2021-46854 known to be exploited?: 15 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.