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Vulnerability record · CVE-2021-20288 · published 15 April 2021

CVE-2021-20288: Linuxfoundation ceph improper authentication vulnerability

Linuxfoundation · Ceph

An authentication flaw was found in ceph in versions before 14.2.20. When the monitor handles CEPHX_GET_AUTH_SESSION_KEY requests, it doesn't sanitize other_keys, allowing key reuse. An attacker who can request a global_id can exploit the ability of any user to request a global_id previously associated with another user, as ceph does not force the reuse of old keys to generate new ones. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

7.2 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 2.1% · top 18.8% CWE-287 · Improper authentication
7.2CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 6.5
2.1%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
4Affected product versions listed by NVD
12References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

An authentication flaw was found in ceph in versions before 14.2.20. When the monitor handles CEPHX_GET_AUTH_SESSION_KEY requests, it doesn't sanitize other_keys, allowing key reuse. An attacker who can request a global_id can exploit the ability of any user to request a global_id previously associated with another user, as ceph does not force the reuse of old keys to generate new ones. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

4 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1938031 Issue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/10/msg00034.html Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/362CEPPYF3YMJZBEJQUT3KD Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5BPIAYTRCWAU4XWCDBK2THE Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JVWUKUUS5BCIFWRV3JCUQMA Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-39 Third Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1938031 Issue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/10/msg00034.html Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/362CEPPYF3YMJZBEJQUT3KD Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5BPIAYTRCWAU4XWCDBK2THE Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JVWUKUUS5BCIFWRV3JCUQMA Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-39 Third Party Advisory

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2021-20288), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.