CVE-2021-42574: fedoraproject fedora Code Injection
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2021-42574 is a high (CVSS 8.3) Code Injection vulnerability in fedoraproject fedora. EPSS estimates a 12.88% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 96.2% of scored vulnerabilities. 4 public exploits are recorded.
Timeline
- 01-11-2021PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 04-08-2024Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
An issue was discovered in the Bidirectional Algorithm in the Unicode Specification through 14.0. It permits the visual reordering of characters via control sequences, which can be used to craft source code that renders different logic than the logical ordering of tokens ingested by compilers and interpreters. Adversaries can leverage this to encode source code for compilers accepting Unicode such that targeted vulnerabilities are introduced invisibly to human reviewers. NOTE: the Unicode Consortium offers the following alternative approach to presenting this concern. An issue is noted in the nature of international text that can affect applications that implement support for The Unicode Standard and the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (all versions). Due to text display behavior when text includes left-to-right and right-to-left characters, the visual order of tokens may be different from their logical order. Additionally, control characters needed to fully support the requirements of bidirectional text can further obfuscate the logical order of tokens. Unless mitigated, an adversary could craft source code such that the ordering of tokens perceived by human reviewers does not match what will be processed by a compiler/interpreter/etc. The Unicode Consortium has documented this class of vulnerability in its document, Unicode Technical Report #36, Unicode Security Considerations. The Unicode Consortium also provides guidance on mitigations for this class of issues in Unicode Technical Standard #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms, and in Unicode Standard Annex #31, Unicode Identifier and Pattern Syntax. Also, the BIDI specification allows applications to tailor the implementation in ways that can mitigate misleading visual reordering in program text; see HL4 in Unicode Standard Annex #9, Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm.
CVSS metrics
6 scores · 5 sources · 2 versions- OSV · AlpineEcosystem advisory · calculated8.3HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · Red hatEcosystem advisory · calculated8.5HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HDiffers
- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated8.3HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated8.3HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
12.88%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
96%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
0.00 pp
From 12.88% on 18-09-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.
Public exploits
4 foundExploit Reference (trojansource.codes)
Maturity: unknown
Exploit Reference (openwall.com)
Maturity: unknown
Exploit Reference (openwall.com)
Maturity: unknown
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Redhat194 products
- annobin< 0:9.72-1.el8_5.2 | < 0:9.50-1.el8_4.1 | < 0:8.78-1.el8_1.1 | < 0:8.90-1.el8_2.1
- annobin-annocheck< 0:9.72-1.el8_5.2 | < 0:9.50-1.el8_4.1
- annobin-annocheck-debuginfo< 0:9.72-1.el8_5.2 | < 0:9.50-1.el8_4.1
- annobin-debuginfo< 0:9.72-1.el8_5.2 | < 0:9.50-1.el8_4.1 | < 0:8.78-1.el8_1.1 | < 0:8.90-1.el8_2.1
- annobin-debugsource< 0:9.72-1.el8_5.2 | < 0:9.50-1.el8_4.1 | < 0:8.78-1.el8_1.1 | < 0:8.90-1.el8_2.1
Alpine1 product
- rust< 1.56.1-r0
Debian1 product
- rustc< 1.57.0+dfsg1-1
Fedoraproject1 product
- fedoraEOL33 | 34 | 35
Mageia1 product
- rust< 1.56.1-1.mga8
Opensuse1 product
- rust1.56&distro=openSUSE Tumbleweed< 1.56.1-1.1
Ubuntu1 product
- rustc< 1.57.0+dfsg1+llvm-0ubuntu1~20.04.1 | < 1.57.0+dfsg1+llvm-0ubuntu2
7 vendors · 200 products · Showing 200 of 260. Use Open JSON for the complete list.
References
106 links- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/…Vendor Advisory
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/…Vendor Advisory
Show all 100 references
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/…Vendor Advisory
- www.starwindsoftware.com/security/sw-20220804-0002/Third Party Advisory
- trojansource.codesARTICLE
Showing 100 of 106. Use Open JSON for the complete list.