CVE-2021-3446

A flaw was found in libtpms in versions before 0.8.2. The commonly used integration of libtpms with OpenSSL contained a vulnerability related to the returned IV (initialization vector) when certain symmetric ciphers were used. Instead of returning the last IV it returned the initial IV to the caller, thus weakening the subsequent encryption and decryption steps. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality.

Published: 2021-03-25 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-3446 is rated Low Risk (24.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-3446

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 2023-03-07 0.89% 0.04% -0.84%
2 2022-04-01 1.40% 0.89% -0.52%
3 2022-02-04 — 1.40% —

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-3446

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-3446

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-3446

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-3446 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libtpms), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-3446
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-3446
suse medium CVE-2021-3446 severity moderate: SUSE including 13 source package names (libtpms-devel-0.8.2-1.1, libtpms-devel-0.8.2-3.3.1, …), 18 product×package rows across 14 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.1, SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.2, … (14 product lines)): Fixed 18. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-3446/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-3446 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libtpms), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 4, ignored 2, not-affected 2, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-3446

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-3446

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
libtpms_project libtpms < 0.8.2 cpe:2.3:a:libtpms_project:libtpms:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:advanced_virtualization:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-3446

URL Tags
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1939664 Issue Tracking Patch Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence