CVE-2021-38160

FAUCET Score

CVE-2021-38160 is a data corruption vulnerability affecting the Linux kernel before version 5.13.4, specifically within the virtio_console.c driver, impacting products like Debian, NetApp, and Red Hat. It carries a CVSS score of 7.8 (High), indicating that a local attacker with low privileges could trigger data corruption or loss by providing an oversized buffer length, though the vendor notes this is not a vulnerability in typical use cases. Despite its high severity, there is no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or significant community discussion or media coverage. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA's KEV catalog and is considered inactive on the Hot List.

Impacted Technologies

Vendor	Product	Version(s)	CPE
		>= 2.6.24, < 4.4.276CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
		>= 4.5, < 4.9.276CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
		>= 4.10, < 4.14.240CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
		>= 4.15, < 4.19.198CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::
		>= 4.20, < 5.4.134CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel::::::::

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

7.8HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector

LOCAL

Attack Complexity

LOW

Privileges Required

LOW

User Interaction

NONE

Scope

UNCHANGED

Confidentiality Impact

HIGH

Integrity Impact

HIGH

Availability Impact

HIGH

Exploitability Score

1.8

Impact Score

5.9

CvssVersion

3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score

0.40%

Probability of exploitation in next 30 days

EPSS Percentile

32.2%

Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group

As of 2026-07-27

Model: v2026.06.15

This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0040 is in the 71st percentile among its peer group of 17,070 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.2 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (7)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference

View patch

microsoftpatch availablevia msrc

Product: cm1 kernel 5.10.60.1-1 on CBL Mariner 1.0Fixed in: -

microsoftpatch availablevia msrc

Product: cbl2 kernel 5.10.78.1-1 on CBL Mariner 2.0Fixed in: 5.10.78.1-1

microsoftpatch availablevia msrc

Product: 16920-16823Fixed in: 5.10.78.1-1

microsoftpatch availablevia msrc

Product: 16919-16820Fixed in: -

redhatend of lifevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: kernel

redhatend of lifevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: kernel-rt

Vendor Advisories (2)

microsoft2021-Aug/CVE-2021-38160Important

In drivers/char/virtio_console.c in the Linux kernel before 5.13.4 data corruption or loss can be triggered by an untrusted device that supplies a buf->len value exceeding the buffer size. NOTE: the vendor indicates that the cited data corruption is not a vulnerability in any existing use case; the length validation was added solely for robustness in the face of anomalous host OS behavior

Aug 10, 2021

redhatCVE-2021-38160

kernel: data corruption or loss can be triggered by an untrusted device that supplies a buf->len value exceeding the buffer size in drivers/char/virtio_console.c

Jul 3, 2021

References

access.redhat.com / security/cve/cve-2021-38160

Third Party Advisory

cdn.kernel.org / pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.13.4

Release NotesVendor Advisory

github.com / torvalds/linux/commit/d00d8da5869a2608e97cfede094dfc5e11462a46

PatchThird Party Advisory

lists.debian.org / debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html

Third Party Advisory

lists.debian.org / debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html

Mailing ListThird Party Advisory

security.netapp.com / advisory/ntap-20210902-0010

Third Party Advisory

debian.org / security/2021/dsa-4978

Third Party Advisory