CVE-2021-36647

Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm in the function mbedtls_mpi_exp_mod() in lignum.c in Mbed TLS Mbed TLS all versions before 3.0.0, 2.27.0 or 2.16.11 allows attackers with access to precise enough timing and memory access information (typically an untrusted operating system attacking a secure enclave such as SGX or the TrustZone secure world) to recover the private keys used in RSA.

Published: 2023-01-17 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-36647 is rated Low Risk (20.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). 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-2021-36647

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 0.07% 0.16% +0.10%
2 2026-06-09 0.05% 0.07% +0.02%
3 2026-06-07 — 0.05% —

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-36647

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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.
 1.0 3.6 [email protected]
4.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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.
 1.0 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-36647

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-36647

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-36647 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (mbedtls), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-36647
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-36647 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (mbedtls), 13 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 5, not-affected 4, needed 3, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-36647

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-36647

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
arm mbed_tls < 2.16.11 cpe:2.3:a:arm:mbed_tls:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
arm mbed_tls >= 2.17.0, < 2.27.0 cpe:2.3:a:arm:mbed_tls:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
trustedfirmware mbed_tls >= 2.28.0, < 3.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:trustedfirmware:mbed_tls:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-36647

cvelogic Threat Intelligence