CVEvulnerability

CVE-2021-3560

7.8 HIGH Known exploited Published 2022-02-16 Modified 2026-06-17 Official page ↗

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Red Hat Polkit Incorrect Authorization Vulnerability — Red Hat Polkit

Red Hat Polkit contains an incorrect authorization vulnerability through the bypassing of credential checks for D-Bus requests, allowing for privilege escalation.

Added to KEV: 2023-05-12
Remediation due: 2023-06-02
Ransomware use: Unknown
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Notes: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3560

Status: Analyzed
Published: 2022-02-16
Last modified: 2026-06-17
Assigner: [email protected]
CVSS 3.1 ([email protected]): 7.8 HIGH — CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 3.1 (134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0): 7.8 HIGH — CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.0 ([email protected]): 7.2 HIGH — AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Weaknesses: CWE-754, CWE-863

Description

It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the privileges of the requestor to the root user. This flaw could be used by an unprivileged local attacker to, for example, create a new local administrator. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Affected configurations

• polkit project polkit (< 0.119) • debian debian linux 11.0 • canonical ubuntu linux 20.04 • redhat virtualization 4.0 • redhat virtualization host 4.0 • redhat openshift container platform 4.7

Weakness · CWE (2)

CWE-754 Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions weakness
CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization weakness

References