Cyber Resilience

CVE-2021-44142

Memory Safety in Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 … 21.10

High EPSSMemory Safety
Published
21 February 2022
Modified
23 April 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.74 99.4th percentile
Risk Priority 87 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2021-44142 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The Samba vfs_fruit module uses extended file attributes (EA, xattr) to provide "...enhanced compatibility with Apple SMB clients and interoperability with a Netatalk 3 AFP fileserver." Samba versions prior to 4.13.17, 4.14.12 and 4.15.5 with vfs_fruit configured allow out-of-bounds heap…

more

read and write via specially crafted extended file attributes. A remote attacker with write access to extended file attributes can execute arbitrary code with the privileges of smbd, typically root.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

North Korea Cyber Group Conducts Global Espionage Campaign to Advance Regime’s Military and Nuclear Programs | CISA
Andariel (G0138)
North Korea Cyber Group Conducts Global Espionage Campaign to Advance Regime’s Military and Nuclear Programs | CISA
Storm-0530
North Korea Cyber Group Conducts Global Espionage Campaign to Advance Regime’s Military and Nuclear Programs | CISA
Maui ransomware
North Korea Cyber Group Conducts Global Espionage Campaign to Advance Regime’s Military and Nuclear Programs | CISA

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

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

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Out-of-bounds heap R/W via crafted extended attributes leads to arbitrary code execution with root privileges.
T1055 Process Injection Stealthconfidence: MEDIUM
Heap memory corruption can be leveraged for process injection or shellcode execution inside smbd.
inferred from description + CWE + attributed actor TTPs (Lazarus Group, Andariel, Storm-0530, Maui ransomware) · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-0435Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2023-1380Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2017-14491Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2018-1160Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2023-4527Same product: Fedoraproject Fedora
CVE-2019-6977Same product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux
CVE-2021-44790Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2021-26691Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2020-15999Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-11131Same product class: NAS / storage appliance

Affected Assets

samba
samba
≤ 4.13.17 · 4.14.0 — 4.14.12 · 4.15.0 — 4.15.5
debian
debian linux
10.0, 11.0
canonical
ubuntu linux
14.04, 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, 21.10
synology
diskstation manager
6.2 — 6.2.4-25556.4
fedoraproject
fedora
34, 35
redhat
codeready linux builder
all versions
redhat
gluster storage
3.5
redhat
virtualization host
4.0
redhat
enterprise linux
7.0, 8.0
redhat
enterprise linux desktop
7.0
+13 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

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 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