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

Published: 2021-08-07 Last update: 2025-05-05 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-38160 is rated Moderate Risk (42.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.40%). 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-2021-38160

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 0.04% 0.40% +0.36%
2 2026-04-21 0.07% 0.04% -0.03%
3 2026-03-04 — 0.07% —

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-38160

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H 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: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.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C 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:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-38160

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-38160

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-38160 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (linux), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-38160
redhat — — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-38160
suse high CVE-2021-38160 severity important: SUSE including 720 source package names (0.45.0.7.7.56:kernel-kvmsmall-5.3.18-59.24.1, 2.0.4-4.5.294:kernel-rt-5.14.21-150500.13.82.1, …), 1378 product×package rows across 152 product lines (Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.2, Container suse/sle-micro/rt-5.5, … (152 product lines)): Fixed 1212, Known Affected 148, Known Not Affected 18. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-38160/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-38160 medium priority: Ubuntu including 168 source packages (linux, linux-allwinner, …), 2116 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 1640, released 217, not-affected 210, ignored 49. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-38160

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-38160

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel >= 2.6.24, < 4.4.276 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.5, < 4.9.276 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.10, < 4.14.240 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.15, < 4.19.198 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 4.20, < 5.4.134 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.5, < 5.10.52 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.11, < 5.12.19 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
linux linux_kernel >= 5.13, < 5.13.4 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp hci_bootstrap_os — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:hci_bootstrap_os:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp hci_management_node — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:hci_management_node:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp solidfire — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:solidfire:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp element_software — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:element_software:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-38160

cvelogic Threat Intelligence