Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-22901

Memory Safety in Splunk Universal Forwarder 8.2.0 – 8.2.12

Public PoCHigh EPSSMemory Safety
Published
11 June 2021
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.60 99.0th percentile
Risk Priority 80 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-22901 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Splunk Universal Forwarder. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 1.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

curl 7.75.0 through 7.76.1 suffers from a use-after-free vulnerability resulting in already freed memory being used when a TLS 1.3 session ticket arrives over a connection. A malicious server can use this in rare unfortunate circumstances to potentially reach remote…

more

code execution in the client. When libcurl at run-time sets up support for TLS 1.3 session tickets on a connection using OpenSSL, it stores pointers to the transfer in-memory object for later retrieval when a session ticket arrives. If the connection is used by multiple transfers (like with a reused HTTP/1.1 connection or multiplexed HTTP/2 connection) that first transfer object might be freed before the new session is established on that connection and then the function will access a memory buffer that might be freed. When using that memory, libcurl might even call a function pointer in the object, making it possible for a remote code execution if the server could somehow manage to get crafted memory content into the correct place in memory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Use-after-free in libcurl TLS 1.3 session ticket handling allows remote code execution when connecting to a malicious server.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28319Same product: Haxx Curl
CVE-2024-56171Same product: Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager
CVE-2023-33250Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-3111Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-4813Same product: Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager
CVE-2023-1838Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-3390Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-1989Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-4004Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-5178Same product: Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager

Affected Assets

haxx
curl
7.75.0 — 7.76.1
oracle
communications cloud native core binding support function
1.11.0
oracle
communications cloud native core network function cloud native environment
1.10.0
oracle
communications cloud native core network repository function
1.15.0, 1.15.1
oracle
communications cloud native core network slice selection function
1.8.0
oracle
communications cloud native core service communication proxy
1.15.0
oracle
essbase
≤ 11.1.2.4.047 · 21.0 — 21.3
oracle
mysql server
≤ 5.7.34 · 8.0.0 — 8.0.25
netapp
active iq unified manager
all versions
netapp
cloud backup
all versions
+16 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

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-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

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 SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References