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Vulnerability record · CVE-2021-3997 · published 23 August 2022

CVE-2021-3997: Systemd project systemd vulnerability

Systemd Project · Systemd

A flaw was found in systemd. An uncontrolled recursion in systemd-tmpfiles may lead to a denial of service at boot time when too many nested directories are created in /tmp.

5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium EPSS 1.7% · top 23.8% CWE-674 · CWE-674
5.5CVSS 3.1 base score
1.7%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
3Affected product versions listed by NVD
10References, 2 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

A flaw was found in systemd. An uncontrolled recursion in systemd-tmpfiles may lead to a denial of service at boot time when too many nested directories are created in /tmp.

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

Affected products

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

References

LinkTags
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-3997 Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2024639 Issue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/5b1cf7a9be37e20133c0208005274ce4a5b5c6a1 PatchThird Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-15
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/01/10/2 ExploitMailing ListThird Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-3997 Issue TrackingThird Party Advisory
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2024639 Issue TrackingPatchThird Party Advisory
https://github.com/systemd/systemd/commit/5b1cf7a9be37e20133c0208005274ce4a5b5c6a1 PatchThird Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202305-15
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/01/10/2 ExploitMailing ListThird Party Advisory

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

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2021-3997), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-28). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.