CVE-2021-41150 | Improper sanitization of delegated role names in tough

Tough provides a set of Rust libraries and tools for using and generating the update framework (TUF) repositories. The tough library, prior to 0.12.0, does not properly sanitize delegated role names when caching a repository, or when loading a repository from the filesystem. When the repository is cached or loaded, files ending with the .json extension could be overwritten with role metadata anywhere on the system. A fix is available in version 0.12.0. No workarounds to this issue are known.

Published: 2021-10-19 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-41150 is rated Moderate Risk (55.9/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.52%). Mandatory action: 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-2021-41150

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 0.58% 0.52% -0.06%
2 2025-11-18 0.50% 0.58% +0.09%
3 2025-03-30 0.50%

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-41150

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N 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: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: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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8 5.8 [email protected]
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N 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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.8 3.6 [email protected]
3.5 2.0 LOW
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
6.8 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-41150

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-41150

GHSA-r56q-vv3c-6g9c · Severity: high · Ecosystem: rust — Improper sanitization of delegated role names

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-41150

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
amazon tough < 0.12.0 cpe:2.3:a:amazon:tough:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*

References for CVE-2021-41150

cvelogic Threat Intelligence