CVE-2021-38185: gnu cpio Integer Overflow or Wraparound

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2021-38185 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Integer Overflow or Wraparound vulnerability in gnu cpio. EPSS estimates a 4.17% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 90.7% of scored vulnerabilities. 3 public exploits are recorded.

Timeline

1. 07-08-2021
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 09-06-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

GNU cpio through 2.13 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted pattern file, because of a dstring.c ds_fgetstr integer overflow that triggers an out-of-bounds heap write. NOTE: it is unclear whether there are common cases where the pattern file, associated with the -E option, is untrusted data.

• CWE-190Integer Overflow or WraparoundThe product performs a calculation that can produce an integer overflow or wraparound when the logic assumes that the resulting value will always be larger than the original value. This occurs when an integer value is incremented to a value that is too large to store in the associated representation. When this occurs, the value may become a very small or negative number.