← Vulnerability feed

Vulnerability record · CVE-2021-38160 · published 7 August 2021

CVE-2021-38160: Linux kernel classic buffer overflow vulnerability

Linux · Linux Kernel

In drivers/char/virtio_console.c in the Linux kernel before 5.13.4, data corruption or loss can be triggered by an untrusted device that supplies a buf->len value exceeding the buffer size. NOTE: the vendor indicates that the cited data corruption is not a vulnerability in any existing use case; the length validation was added solely for robustness in the face of anomalous host OS behavior

7.8 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 0.40% · top 68.9% CWE-120 · Classic buffer overflow
7.8CVSS 3.1 base score, v2 7.2
0.40%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
7Affected product versions listed by NVD
14References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

In drivers/char/virtio_console.c in the Linux kernel before 5.13.4, data corruption or loss can be triggered by an untrusted device that supplies a buf->len value exceeding the buffer size. NOTE: the vendor indicates that the cited data corruption is not a vulnerability in any existing use case; the length validation was added solely for robustness in the face of anomalous host OS behavior

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

Affected products

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

References

LinkTags
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2021-38160 Third Party Advisory
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.13.4 Release NotesVendor Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/d00d8da5869a2608e97cfede094dfc5e11462a46 PatchThird Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210902-0010/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4978 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2021-38160 Third Party Advisory
https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.13.4 Release NotesVendor Advisory
https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/d00d8da5869a2608e97cfede094dfc5e11462a46 PatchThird Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210902-0010/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4978 Third Party Advisory

Track CVE-2021-38160 inside VULONE

Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.

Start free Open in platform

Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

10.0CVE-2025-32433Erlang/OTP SSH server missing authentication allows remote code executionErlang/OTP SSH servers before OTP-27.3.3, OTP-26.2.5.11 and OTP-25.3.2.20 mishandle SSH protocol messages, letting an unauthenticated attacker execut…KEVEPSS 99%analysed10.0CVE-2025-24201Apple WebKit out-of-bounds write allows sandbox escapeCVE-2025-24201 is an out-of-bounds write in Apple's WebKit that was addressed with improved checks. Maliciously crafted web content may break out of …KEVEPSS 3.8%analysed10.0CVE-2021-44228Apache Log4j2 JNDI lookup remote code executionApache Log4j2 versions 2.0-beta9 through 2.15.0 (excluding 2.12.2, 2.12.3, and 2.3.1) do not protect against attacker-controlled LDAP and other JNDI …KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2026-24061GNU Inetutils telnetd argument injection allows remote auth bypasstelnetd in GNU Inetutils through 2.7 fails to sanitize the USER environment variable, so a value such as "-f root" is passed as an argument to login …KEVEPSS 99%analysed9.8CVE-2025-39682Linux kernel TLS zero-length record handling flaw on rx_listThe Linux kernel TLS receive path mishandles zero-length records that arrive from the rx_list, breaking the assumption that a record type change cann…KEVEPSS 2.9%analysed9.8CVE-2025-24813Apache Tomcat Default Servlet path equivalence enables RCE and file disclosureApache Tomcat mishandles path equivalence for names containing an internal dot, letting a remote unauthenticated attacker write files through the Def…KEVEPSS 100%analysed9.8CVE-2024-9680Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird use-after-free in Animation timelinesA use-after-free flaw in Animation timelines allows an attacker to execute code in the content process of Firefox and Thunderbird. Mozilla reports ex…KEVEPSS 23%analysed9.8CVE-2023-46604Apache ActiveMQ OpenWire deserialization remote code executionThe Java OpenWire protocol marshaller in Apache ActiveMQ deserializes untrusted data, letting an attacker manipulate serialized class types so the br…KEVEPSS 100%analysed

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2021-38160), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-29). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.