Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-25216

Memory Safety in Isc Bind 9.0.0 – 9.11.31

High EPSSMemory Safety
Published
29 April 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 0.82 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 81 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-25216 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Isc Bind. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In BIND 9.5.0 -> 9.11.29, 9.12.0 -> 9.16.13, and versions BIND 9.11.3-S1 -> 9.11.29-S1 and 9.16.8-S1 -> 9.16.13-S1 of BIND Supported Preview Edition, as well as release versions 9.17.0 -> 9.17.1 of the BIND 9.17 development branch, BIND servers are…

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vulnerable if they are running an affected version and are configured to use GSS-TSIG features. In a configuration which uses BIND's default settings the vulnerable code path is not exposed, but a server can be rendered vulnerable by explicitly setting values for the tkey-gssapi-keytab or tkey-gssapi-credential configuration options. Although the default configuration is not vulnerable, GSS-TSIG is frequently used in networks where BIND is integrated with Samba, as well as in mixed-server environments that combine BIND servers with Active Directory domain controllers. For servers that meet these conditions, the ISC SPNEGO implementation is vulnerable to various attacks, depending on the CPU architecture for which BIND was built: For named binaries compiled for 64-bit platforms, this flaw can be used to trigger a buffer over-read, leading to a server crash. For named binaries compiled for 32-bit platforms, this flaw can be used to trigger a server crash due to a buffer overflow and possibly also to achieve remote code execution. We have determined that standard SPNEGO implementations are available in the MIT and Heimdal Kerberos libraries, which support a broad range of operating systems, rendering the ISC implementation unnecessary and obsolete. Therefore, to reduce the attack surface for BIND users, we will be removing the ISC SPNEGO implementation in the April releases of BIND 9.11 and 9.16 (it had already been dropped from BIND 9.17). We would not normally remove something from a stable ESV (Extended Support Version) of BIND, but since system libraries can replace the ISC SPNEGO implementation, we have made an exception in this case for reasons of stability and security.

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
Vulnerability in publicly exposed BIND DNS server with GSS-TSIG allows remote exploitation via crafted SPNEGO packets.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: MEDIUM
Buffer overflow on 32-bit builds may permit remote code execution, enabling privilege escalation on the DNS server host.
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impactconfidence: HIGH
Buffer over-read on 64-bit builds and overflow on 32-bit builds both lead to named process crash, causing denial of service.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-1380Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-2911Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-2828Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-4236Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-38430Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-38431Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-38432Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-38428Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-38426Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-2829Same product: Isc Bind

Affected Assets

debian
debian linux
10.0, 9.0
isc
bind
9.10.5, 9.10.7, 9.11.12, 9.11.21, 9.11.27 · 9.0.0 — 9.11.31 · 9.12.0 — 9.16.15 · 9.17.0 — 9.17.12
siemens
sinec infrastructure network services
≤ 1.0.1.1
netapp
active iq unified manager
all versions
netapp
cloud backup
all versions
netapp
aff a250 firmware
all versions
netapp
aff 500f firmware
all versions
netapp
h300s firmware
all versions
netapp
h500s firmware
all versions
netapp
h700s firmware
all versions
+4 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

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 such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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 and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
detects

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References