CVE-2021-21401 | Invalid free() call in Nanopb

Exp

Nanopb is a small code-size Protocol Buffers implementation in ansi C. In Nanopb before versions 0.3.9.8 and 0.4.5, decoding a specifically formed message can cause invalid `free()` or `realloc()` calls if the message type contains an `oneof` field, and the `oneof` directly contains both a pointer field and a non-pointer field. If the message data first contains the non-pointer field and then the pointer field, the data of the non-pointer field is incorrectly treated as if it was a pointer value. Such message data rarely occurs in normal messages, but it is a concern when untrusted data is parsed. This has been fixed in versions 0.3.9.8 and 0.4.5. See referenced GitHub Security Advisory for more information including workarounds.

Published: 2021-03-23 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-21401 is rated High Exploit Risk (70.9/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.81%). 2 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2021-21401

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-21401

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.84% 1.81% +0.97%
2 2026-06-01 0.20% 0.84% +0.64%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.20% —

Full EPSS history (18 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-21401

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 4.2 [email protected]
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 2.8 4.2 [email protected]
5.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-21401

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-21401

GHSA-7mv5-5mxh-qg88 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: pip — nanopb vulnerable to invalid free() call with oneofs and PB_ENABLE_MALLOC

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-21401

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-21401 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (nanopb), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-21401
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-21401 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (nanopb), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 7, DNE 3, ignored 3, released 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-21401

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-21401

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
nanopb_project nanopb < 0.3.9.8 cpe:2.3:a:nanopb_project:nanopb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
nanopb_project nanopb >= 0.4.0, < 0.4.5 cpe:2.3:a:nanopb_project:nanopb:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-21401

cvelogic Threat Intelligence