CVE-2021-40391

Exp

An out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in the drill format T-code tool number functionality of Gerbv 2.7.0, dev (commit b5f1eacd), and the forked version of Gerbv (commit 71493260). A specially-crafted drill file can lead to code execution. An attacker can provide a malicious file to trigger this vulnerability.

Published: 2021-11-19 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-40391 is rated High Exploit Risk (86.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.92%). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +2.44% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2021-40391

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-40391

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 0.47% 2.92% +2.44%
2 2025-11-21 2.38% 0.47% -1.91%
3 2025-11-18 2.38%

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40391

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
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]
10.0 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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 6.0 [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-2021-40391

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-40391

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-40391 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (gerbv), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, bullseye, sid, trixie): resolved 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-40391
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-40391 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (gerbv), 14 status rows across 14 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 7, released 5, ignored 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-40391

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40391

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gerbv_project gerbv 2.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:gerbv_project:gerbv:2.7.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
gerbv_project gerbv 2.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:gerbv_project:gerbv:2.7.0:dev:*:*:*:*:*:*
gerbv_project gerbv 2.7.0 cpe:2.3:a:gerbv_project:gerbv:2.7.0:forked_dev:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 36 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:36:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40391

cvelogic Threat Intelligence