Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2021-38160

In drivers/char/virtio_console.c in the Linux kernel before 5.13.4, data corruption or loss can be triggered by an untrusted device that supplies a buf->len value exceeding the buffer size. NOTE: the vendor indicates that the cited data corruption is not a vulnerability in any existing use case; the length validation was added solely for robustness in the face of anomalous host OS behavior

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8, requiring local system access to exploit with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 9 products from linux, from netapp, from netapp and 6 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.

Published

2021-08-07T04:15:06.967

Last Modified

2026-06-17T04:01:36.330

Status

Analyzed

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 7.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Access Vector: LOCAL
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: COMPLETE
Integrity Impact: COMPLETE
Availability Impact: COMPLETE

Exploitability Score

3.9

Impact Score

10.0

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-120

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 4.4.276	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 4.9.276	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 4.14.240	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 4.19.198	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 5.4.134	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 5.10.52	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 5.12.19	Yes
Operating System	linux	linux_kernel	< 5.13.4	Yes
Operating System	netapp	hci_bootstrap_os	-	Yes
Hardware	netapp	hci_compute_node	-	No
Application	netapp	hci_management_node	-	Yes
Application	netapp	solidfire	-	Yes
Hardware	netapp	hci_storage_node	-	No
Application	netapp	element_software	-	Yes
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	9.0	Yes
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	10.0	Yes
Operating System	redhat	enterprise_linux	8.0	Yes

References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2021-38160 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.13.4 Release Notes, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/d00d8da5869a2608e97cfede094dfc5e11462a46 Patch, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210902-0010/ Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4978 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2021-38160 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.13.4 Release Notes, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/d00d8da5869a2608e97cfede094dfc5e11462a46 Patch, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210902-0010/ Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4978 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For linux's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.