CVE-2021-21309: redis Integer Overflow or Wraparound
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2021-21309 is a high (CVSS 8.8) Integer Overflow or Wraparound vulnerability in redis. EPSS estimates a 4.79% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 91.8% of scored vulnerabilities.
Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 4 · Related 4Timeline
- 26-02-2021PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 03-08-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
Redis is an open-source, in-memory database that persists on disk. In affected versions of Redis an integer overflow bug in 32-bit Redis version 4.0 or newer could be exploited to corrupt the heap and potentially result with remote code execution. Redis 4.0 or newer uses a configurable limit for the maximum supported bulk input size. By default, it is 512MB which is a safe value for all platforms. If the limit is significantly increased, receiving a large request from a client may trigger several integer overflow scenarios, which would result with buffer overflow and heap corruption. We believe this could in certain conditions be exploited for remote code execution. By default, authenticated Redis users have access to all configuration parameters and can therefore use the “CONFIG SET proto-max-bulk-len” to change the safe default, making the system vulnerable. **This problem only affects 32-bit Redis (on a 32-bit system, or as a 32-bit executable running on a 64-bit system).** The problem is fixed in version 6.2, and the fix is back ported to 6.0.11 and 5.0.11. Make sure you use one of these versions if you are running 32-bit Redis. An additional workaround to mitigate the problem without patching the redis-server executable is to prevent clients from directly executing `CONFIG SET`: Using Redis 6.0 or newer, ACL configuration can be used to block the command. Using older versions, the `rename-command` configuration directive can be used to rename the command to a random string unknown to users, rendering it inaccessible. Please note that this workaround may have an additional impact on users or operational systems that expect `CONFIG SET` to behave in certain ways.
CVSS metrics
6 scores · 5 sources · 2 versions- CVE.orgCNA5.4MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:LDiffers
- OSV · AlpineEcosystem advisory · calculated8.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated5.4MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:LDiffers
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated8.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
4.79%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
92%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
+0.09 pp
From 4.70% on 18-09-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Mageia2 products
- redis< 5.0.9-1.1.mga7
- redis< 6.0.11-1.mga8
Alpine1 product
- redis≥ 4.0, < 5.0.11-r0 | ≥ 4.0, < 6.0.11-r0 | ≥ 4.0, < 6.2.0-r0
Debian1 product
- redis< 5:6.0.11-1 | < 3:3.2.6-3+deb9u4
Redis1 product
- redis< 5.0.11 | ≥ 6.0.0, < 6.0.11
Redislabs1 product
- redis≥ 4.0, < 5.0.11 | ≥ 6.0.0, < 6.0.11
Ubuntu1 product
- redis< 5:4.0.9-1ubuntu0.2+esm3
6 vendors · 7 products
References
15 links- github.com/redis/redis/security/advisories/GHSA-hgj8-vff2-7cjfX Refsource CONFIRMThird Party Advisory
- github.com/redis/redis/commit/c992857618db99776917f10bf4f2345a5fdc78b0X Refsource MISCPatchThird Party Advisory