Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-21220

Memory Safety in Fedoraproject Fedora 32 … 34

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
26 April 2021
Modified
24 October 2025
KEV Added
03 November 2021
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.69 99.3th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-21220 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 0.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is an out-of-bounds write issue (CWE-787) stemming from insufficient validation of untrusted input in the V8 JavaScript engine within Google Chrome versions prior to 89.0.4389.128. It affects the browser's handling of crafted web content and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8.

A remote attacker can exploit the flaw by serving a malicious HTML page to a victim, triggering heap corruption that may allow arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the Chrome process. User interaction is required in the form of visiting the page, after which the attacker could achieve full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

Chrome stable channel updates and distribution advisories such as the Fedora package announcement direct users to upgrade immediately to version 89.0.4389.128 or later to address the issue. Public exploit code demonstrating remote code execution via the V8 JIT component has been published on Packet Storm.

The associated Chromium bug tracker entry provides additional technical details for analysts reviewing patch diffs or memory safety improvements in V8.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Insufficient validation of untrusted input in V8 in Google Chrome prior to 89.0.4389.128 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
03 November 2021

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-4761Same product: Fedoraproject Fedoraboth on KEV
CVE-2021-30632Same product: Fedoraproject Fedoraboth on KEV
CVE-2024-0517Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-5844Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-5499Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-2173Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-0223Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-1529Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2024-3157Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2021-21148Same product: Fedoraproject Fedoraboth on KEV

Affected Assets

google
chrome
≤ 89.0.4389.128
fedoraproject
fedora
32, 33, 34

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References