CVE-2021-41137 | Bypassing policy restrictions on regular users

Minio is a Kubernetes native application for cloud storage. All users on release `RELEASE.2021-10-10T16-53-30Z` are affected by a vulnerability that involves bypassing policy restrictions on regular users. Normally, checkKeyValid() should return owner true for rootCreds. In the affected version, policy restriction did not work properly for users who did not have service (svc) or security token service (STS) accounts. This issue is fixed in `RELEASE.2021-10-13T00-23-17Z`. A downgrade back to release `RELEASE.2021-10-08T23-58-24Z` is available as a workaround.

Published: 2021-10-13 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-41137 is rated Moderate Risk (46.3/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). 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-2021-41137

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 2025-11-21 0.44% 0.13% -0.31%
2 2025-11-18 0.13% 0.44% +0.31%
3 2025-11-02 — 0.13% —

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-41137

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:L/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: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.
 2.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 8.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-41137

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-41137

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
minio minio 2021-10-10t16-53-30z cpe:2.3:a:minio:minio:2021-10-10t16-53-30z:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-41137

cvelogic Threat Intelligence