An issue was discovered in the character definitions of the Unicode Specification through 14.0. The specification allows an adversary to produce source code identifiers such as function names using homoglyphs that render visually identical to a target identifier. Adversaries can leverage this to inject code via adversarial identifier definitions in upstream software dependencies invoked deceptively in downstream software. NOTE: the Unicode Consortium offers the following alternative approach to presenting this concern. An issue is noted in the nature of international text that can affect applications that implement support for The Unicode Standard (all versions). Unless mitigated, an adversary could produce source code identifiers using homoglyph characters that render visually identical to but are distinct from a target identifier. In this way, an adversary could inject adversarial identifier definitions in upstream software that are not detected by human reviewers and are invoked deceptively in downstream software. The Unicode Consortium has documented this class of security vulnerability in its document, Unicode Technical Report #36, Unicode Security Considerations. The Unicode Consortium also provides guidance on mitigations for this class of issues in Unicode Technical Standard #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-42694 is rated High Exploit Risk (74.8/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.49%, 90th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). 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.
| EDB-ID | Source | Kind | Published | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | nvd_ref | exploit_tag | Exploit-DB ↗ |
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 | 12.45% | 4.49% | -7.96% |
| 2 | 2026-06-12 | 8.24% | 12.45% | +4.21% |
| 3 | 2026-04-27 | — | 8.24% | — |
Full EPSS history (44 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.3 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
1.6 | 6.0 | [email protected] |
| 8.3 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
1.6 | 6.0 | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 |
| 5.1 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
4.9 | 6.4 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
gentoo
|
normal | CVE-2021-42694: 1 GLSA(s) (202210-09), 2 atom(s) (dev-lang/rust, dev-lang/rust-bin); latest impact normal. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2021-42694 |
redhat
|
medium | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-42694 |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/11/01/1 | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
| http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/11/01/6 | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
| http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode14.0.0/ | Release Notes Vendor Advisory |
| https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/1007.html | Third Party Advisory |
| https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202210-09 | Third Party Advisory |
| https://trojansource.codes | Third Party Advisory |
| https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/999008 | Third Party Advisory US Government Resource |
| https://www.scyon.nl/post/trojans-in-your-source-code | Exploit Third Party Advisory |
| https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr36/ | Technical Description Vendor Advisory |
| https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr39/ | Technical Description Vendor Advisory |