CVE-2021-40490

A race condition was discovered in ext4_write_inline_data_end in fs/ext4/inline.c in the ext4 subsystem in the Linux kernel through 5.13.13.

Published: 2021-09-02 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-40490 is rated Low Risk (35.2/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.28%). 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-2021-40490

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 0.03% 0.28% +0.25%
2 2025-11-21 0.08% 0.03% -0.05%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.08% —

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-40490

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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: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: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.
 1.0 5.9 [email protected]
4.4 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
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.
 3.4 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-40490

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-40490

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-40490 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-2021-40490
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-40490
suse medium CVE-2021-40490 severity moderate: SUSE including 584 source package names (0.16.2:kmod-25-6.10.1, 0.16.2:libkmod2-25-6.10.1, …), 1055 product×package rows across 151 product lines (Container caasp/v4/cilium, Container caasp/v4/etcd, … (151 product lines)): Fixed 867, Known Affected 154, Known Not Affected 34. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-40490/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-40490 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 218, not-affected 209, ignored 49. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-40490

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-40490

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
linux linux_kernel <= 5.13.13 cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 34 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 11.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp aff_a250_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:aff_a250_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp fas_500f_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:fas_500f_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h300s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h500s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h700s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h300e_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h300e_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h500e_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h500e_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h700e_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h700e_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h410c_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h410c_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h610c_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h610c_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h610s_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h610s_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp h615c_firmware — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:h615c_firmware:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-40490

cvelogic Threat Intelligence