CVE-2021-42780

A use after return issue was found in Opensc before version 0.22.0 in insert_pin function that could potentially crash programs using the library.

Published: 2022-04-18 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-42780 is rated Moderate Risk (49/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.09%). 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-2021-42780

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 2026-07-05 2.03% 2.09% +0.06%
2 2026-06-15 0.06% 2.03% +1.97%
3 2025-11-21 0.06%

Full EPSS history (13 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-42780

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.3 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L 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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
3.9 1.4 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-42780

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-42780

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2021-42780: 1 source package rows (opensc); 6 state rows across 2 repos (3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 0, open 6. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-42780
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-42780 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (opensc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-42780
gentoo normal CVE-2021-42780: 1 GLSA(s) (202209-03), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/opensc); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2021-42780
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-42780
suse low CVE-2021-42780 severity low: SUSE including 18 source package names (libopensc2-0.11.6-5.27.14.1, libopensc2-32bit-0.11.6-5.27.14.1, …), 59 product×package rows across 46 product lines (HPE Helion OpenStack 8, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (46 product lines)): Fixed 58, Known Not Affected 1. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-42780/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-42780 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (opensc), 14 status rows across 14 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 6, not-affected 4, released 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-42780

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-42780

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensc_project opensc < 0.22.0 cpe:2.3:a:opensc_project:opensc:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-42780

cvelogic Threat Intelligence