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Vulnerability record · CVE-2021-45985 · published 10 April 2023

CVE-2021-45985: Lua out-of-bounds write vulnerability

Lua · Lua

In Lua 5.4.3, an erroneous finalizer called during a tail call leads to a heap-based buffer over-read.

7.5 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 1.4% · top 28.3% CWE-787 · Out-of-bounds write
7.5CVSS 3.1 base score
1.4%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
6References, 2 tagged exploit
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

In Lua 5.4.3, an erroneous finalizer called during a tail call leads to a heap-based buffer over-read.

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

Affected products

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

References

LinkTags
http://lua-users.org/lists/lua-l/2021-12/msg00019.html ExploitMailing ListVendor Advisory
https://github.com/lua/lua/commit/cf613cdc6fa367257fc61c256f63d917350858b5 Patch
https://www.lua.org/bugs.html#5.4.3-11 Vendor Advisory
http://lua-users.org/lists/lua-l/2021-12/msg00019.html ExploitMailing ListVendor Advisory
https://github.com/lua/lua/commit/cf613cdc6fa367257fc61c256f63d917350858b5 Patch
https://www.lua.org/bugs.html#5.4.3-11 Vendor Advisory

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Related vulnerabilities

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

9.8CVE-2020-15889Lua out-of-bounds read vulnerabilityLua 5.4.0 has a getobjname heap-based buffer over-read because youngcollection in lgc.c uses markold for an insufficient number of list members.EPSS 2.2%9.1CVE-2022-28805Lua out-of-bounds read vulnerabilitysinglevar in lparser.c in Lua from (including) 5.4.0 up to (excluding) 5.4.4 lacks a certain luaK_exp2anyregup call, leading to a heap-based buffer o…EPSS 3.0%8.8CVE-2020-15888Lua out-of-bounds read vulnerabilityLua through 5.4.0 mishandles the interaction between stack resizes and garbage collection, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow, heap-based buffer…EPSS 2.4%7.8CVE-2020-24342Lua memory buffer overflow vulnerabilityLua through 5.4.0 allows a stack redzone cross in luaO_pushvfstring because a protection mechanism wrongly calls luaD_callnoyield twice in a row.EPSS 1.1%7.5CVE-2022-33099Lua out-of-bounds write vulnerabilityAn issue in the component luaG_runerror of Lua v5.4.4 and below leads to a heap-buffer overflow when a recursive error occurs.EPSS 2.8%7.5CVE-2020-24369Lua null pointer dereference vulnerabilityldebug.c in Lua 5.4.0 attempts to access debug information via the line hook of a stripped function, leading to a NULL pointer dereference.EPSS 1.7%7.5CVE-2019-6706Lua use after free vulnerabilityLua 5.3.5 has a use-after-free in lua_upvaluejoin in lapi.c. For example, a crash outcome might be achieved by an attacker who is able to trigger a d…EPSS 17%6.3CVE-2021-44964Lua use after free vulnerabilityUse after free in garbage collector and finalizer of lgc.c in Lua interpreter 5.4.0~5.4.3 allows attackers to perform Sandbox Escape via a crafted sc…EPSS 0.99%

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2021-45985), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.