CVE-2021-39214 | Lacking Protection against HTTP Request Smuggling in mitmproxy

mitmproxy is an interactive, SSL/TLS-capable intercepting proxy. In mitmproxy 7.0.2 and below, a malicious client or server is able to perform HTTP request smuggling attacks through mitmproxy. This means that a malicious client/server could smuggle a request/response through mitmproxy as part of another request/response's HTTP message body. While a smuggled request is still captured as part of another request's body, it does not appear in the request list and does not go through the usual mitmproxy event hooks, where users may have implemented custom access control checks or input sanitization. Unless one uses mitmproxy to protect an HTTP/1 service, no action is required. The vulnerability has been fixed in mitmproxy 7.0.3 and above.

Published: 2021-09-16 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-39214 is rated Moderate Risk (54.6/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.09%). 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-2021-39214

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 0.19% 1.09% +0.90%
2 2025-11-21 0.43% 0.19% -0.23%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.43% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-39214

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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.
 2.2 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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: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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
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.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-39214

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-39214

GHSA-22gh-3r9q-xf38 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: pip — Lacking Protection against HTTP Request Smuggling in mitmproxy

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-39214

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2021-39214: 1 source package rows (mitmproxy); 3 state rows across 3 repos (3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 3, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-39214
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-39214 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (mitmproxy), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid): resolved 3, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-39214
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-39214 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (mitmproxy), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 7, needs-triage 7, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-39214

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-39214

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mitmproxy mitmproxy <= 7.0.2 cpe:2.3:a:mitmproxy:mitmproxy:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-39214

cvelogic Threat Intelligence