CVE-2021-38015

Inappropriate implementation in input in Google Chrome prior to 96.0.4664.45 allowed an attacker who convinced a user to install a malicious extension to bypass navigation restrictions via a crafted Chrome Extension.

Published: 2021-12-23 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-38015 is rated Moderate Risk (56.9/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.41%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2021-38015

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 2026-05-27 0.19% 0.41% +0.21%
2 2025-12-16 0.09% 0.19% +0.10%
3 2025-11-21 0.09%

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-38015

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.8 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.6 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-38015

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-38015

vendor priority summary link
alpine high CVE-2021-38015: 1 source package rows (qt5-qtwebengine); 7 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-38015
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-38015 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (chromium), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-38015
gentoo high CVE-2021-38015: 1 GLSA(s) (202201-02), 2 atom(s) (www-client/chromium, www-client/google-chrome); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2021-38015
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-38015 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (chromium-browser), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 3, DNE 2, released 2, ignored 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-38015

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-38015

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
google chrome < 96.0.4664.45 cpe:2.3:a:google:chrome:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-38015

cvelogic Threat Intelligence