Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-38195

CriticalPublic PoC

Published: 08 August 2021

Published
08 August 2021
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0017 38.0th percentile
Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2021-38195 is a critical-severity Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature (CWE-347) vulnerability in Parity Libsecp256K1. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked at the 38.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

An issue was discovered in the libsecp256k1 crate before 0.5.0 for Rust. It can verify an invalid signature because it allows the R or S parameter to be larger than the curve order, aka an overflow.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

parity
libsecp256k1
≤ 0.5.0

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-347

Requires verification of digital signatures using organization-approved certificates before installation, directly preventing improper verification of cryptographic signatures.

addresses: CWE-347

Component authenticity commonly depends on cryptographic signatures; the control enforces proper verification of those signatures.

addresses: CWE-347

PKI certificates under an approved policy require cryptographic signature verification on issuance and validation.

addresses: CWE-347

Requires cryptographic signatures on authoritative data and support for verifying the chain of trust.

addresses: CWE-347

Mandates verification of cryptographic signatures (e.g., DNSSEC RRSIG) on resolution responses, addressing missing or bypassed signature checks.

addresses: CWE-347

Integrity tools commonly rely on cryptographic signatures whose improper validation this weakness covers.

addresses: CWE-347

Authenticity validation commonly relies on cryptographic signature or certificate checks that this control enforces.

References