CVE-2021-3939: canonical accountsservice Free of Memory not on the Heap
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2021-3939 is a high (CVSS 7.8) Free of Memory not on the Heap vulnerability in canonical accountsservice. EPSS estimates a 0.37% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 29.7% of scored vulnerabilities.
Timeline
- 17-11-2021PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 16-09-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
Ubuntu-specific modifications to accountsservice (in patch file debian/patches/0010-set-language.patch) caused the fallback_locale variable, pointing to static storage, to be freed, in the user_change_language_authorized_cb function. This is reachable via the SetLanguage dbus function. This is fixed in versions 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.5, 0.6.55-0ubuntu13.3, 0.6.55-0ubuntu14.1.
CVSS metrics
4 scores · 3 sources · 2 versions- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- NVDNIST7.8HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
0.37%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
30%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
0.00 pp
From 0.37% 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 cause- CWE-590Free of Memory not on the HeapThe product calls free() on a pointer to memory that was not allocated using associated heap allocation functions such as malloc(), calloc(), or realloc().
- CWE-763Release of Invalid Pointer or ReferenceThe product attempts to return a memory resource to the system, but it calls the wrong release function or calls the appropriate release function incorrectly.
Affected systems
Canonical2 products
- accountsservice≥ 0.6.55-0ubuntu12\~20.04, < 0.6.55-0ubuntu12\~20.05 | ≥ 0.6.55-0ubuntu13, < 0.6.55-0ubuntu13.3 | ≥ 0.6.55-0ubuntu14, < 0.6.55-0ubuntu14.1
- ubuntu_linuxEOL20.04 | 21.04 | 21.10
Ubuntu2 products
- accountsservice< 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.5 | < 0.6.55-3ubuntu2
- accountsservice≥ 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04, < 0.6.55-0ubuntu12~20.04.5 | ≥ 0.6.55-0ubuntu13, < 0.6.55-0ubuntu13.3 | ≥ 0.6.55-0ubuntu14, < 0.6.55-0ubuntu14.1
2 vendors · 4 products