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Vulnerability · Published Aug 25, 2022 · Assigned by redhat

CVE-2021-35938

Medium 6.7

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in RPM. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.5% (higher than 44% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS NVD)6.7Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.5%top 55.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

A symbolic link issue was found in rpm. It occurs when rpm sets the desired permissions and credentials after installing a file. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to exchange the original file with a symbolic link to a security-critical file and escalate their privileges on the system. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux:8python3-rpm4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9python3-rpm4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-apidocs4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-apidocs4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-build4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-build4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-build-libs4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-build-libs4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-cron4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-cron4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-devel4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-devel4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-libs4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-libs4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:9rpm-plugin-audit4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-plugin-fapolicyd4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-plugin-fapolicyd4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-plugin-ima4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-plugin-ima4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-plugin-prioreset4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:8rpm-plugin-selinux4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-plugin-selinux4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-plugin-syslog4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-plugin-syslog4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-plugin-systemd-inhibit4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-plugin-systemd-inhibit4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:8rpm-sign4.14.3-28.el8_9ALSA-2024:0647
AlmaLinux:9rpm-sign4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
AlmaLinux:9rpm-sign-libs4.16.1.3-27.el9_3ALSA-2024:0463
Alpine:v3.20rpm4.18.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2021-35938
Alpine:v3.21rpm4.18.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2021-35938
Alpine:v3.22rpm4.18.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2021-35938
Alpine:v3.23rpm4.18.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2021-35938
Alpine:v3.24rpm4.18.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2021-35938
Debian:12rpm4.18.0+dfsg-1DEBIAN-CVE-2021-35938
Debian:13rpm4.18.0+dfsg-1DEBIAN-CVE-2021-35938
Debian:14rpm4.18.0+dfsg-1DEBIAN-CVE-2021-35938
Rocky Linux:8rpm0:4.14.3-28.el8_9RLSA-2024:0647
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSrpmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2021-35938
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSrpmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2021-35938
Ubuntu:25.10rpmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2021-35938
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSrpmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2021-35938
Ubuntu:26.10rpmno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2021-35938

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
n/a RPM Fixed in rpm v4.18.0

Weakness: CWE-59

References