CVE-2021-22555

CRITICALNVD 7.89.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

“▲” beside the score: it is higher than NVD's CVSS score.

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2025-10-06), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8 retained for reference. The 9.0 is the floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: this CVE's impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH under NVD CVSS v3. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, EPSS, NVD CVSS v3
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild

Also known asEUVD-2021-9696 (ENISA EUVD)Source: ENISA EUVD

9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at low or medium mission impact
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 79%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: Metasploit · Exploit-DB (verified) · other public PoCExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

A heap out-of-bounds write affecting Linux since v2.6.19-rc1 was discovered in net/netfilter/x_tables.c. This allows an attacker to gain privileges or cause a DoS (via heap memory corruption) through user name space

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
75
EG Risk 75/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity78% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 7.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation100% × 40%
Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.
EPSS PROB
79%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (9.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.0 is the CISA KEV floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: its impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH.

EG Severity
7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.NVD CVSS v3 · CVSS v3.0 or v3.1
EG Likelihood
79% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-02). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Attend at medium mission impactTrack at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

CISA required action“Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.”

Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/net/netfilter/x_tables.c?id=9fa492cdc160cd27ce1046cb36f47d3b2b1efa21 · https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/net/netfilter/x_tables.c?id=b29c457a6511435960115c0f548c4360d5f4801d · https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210805-0010/ · https://github.com/google/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-xxx5-8mvq-3528 · https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22555

Published

July 7, 2021

Last Modified

October 13, 2026

Advisory Details (9)

Auto-updated Oct 28, 2026
⚠️ Actively exploited (CISA KEV, CISA Vulnrichment). Patch available. Sources: github.

Patch Availability(19)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntulowlatency-4.4 (4.4.0-168) @ xenial2026-11-01ubuntu
ubuntuoem (4.15.0-1063) @ bionic2026-11-01ubuntu
ubuntuvlan-modules-4.4.0-213-generic-di (4.4.0-213.245) @ xenial2026-11-01ubuntu
redhatkernel-0:2.6.32-754.58.1.el62025-10-10redhat
redhatkpatch-patch2021-10-12redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-957.84.1.el72021-10-12redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-693.94.1.el72021-10-05redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-1062.56.1.el72021-09-14redhat
redhatredhat-virtualization-host-0:4.3.18-20210903.0.el7_92021-09-09redhat
redhatkernel-rt-0:4.18.0-193.64.1.rt13.115.el8_22021-08-31redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-1160.41.1.el72021-08-31redhat
redhatkernel-0:4.18.0-193.64.1.el8_22021-08-31redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-514.92.1.el72021-08-31redhat
redhatkernel-rt-0:3.10.0-1160.41.1.rt56.1181.el72021-08-31redhat
redhatkernel-0:3.10.0-327.100.1.el72021-08-31redhat
redhatredhat-virtualization-host-0:4.4.7-20210804.0.el8_42021-08-19redhat
redhatkernel-0:4.18.0-147.52.1.el8_12021-08-17redhat
redhatkernel-rt-0:4.18.0-305.12.1.rt7.84.el8_42021-08-10redhat
redhatkernel-0:4.18.0-305.12.1.el8_42021-08-10redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
linux—
  • every version up to 5.10.38-1: fixed in 5.10.38-1
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
linux—
  • every version up to 5.10.38-1: fixed in 5.10.38-1
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
linux—
  • every version up to 5.10.38-1: fixed in 5.10.38-1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
linux—
  • every version up to 5.10.38-1: fixed in 5.10.38-1
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Additional Vendor Advisories

(5)

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 16× in last 7d / 111× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 1,014 refreshes on record for this CVE.

A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 914 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.

  1. 2026-11-03 16:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  2. 2026-11-03 15:55 UTCOSV refresh
  3. 2026-11-03 00:23 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-11-03 00:23 UTCVendor advisory
  5. 2026-11-01 22:50 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-11-01 22:50 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-10-31 21:18 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-10-31 21:18 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-10-30 19:45 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-10-30 19:45 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-10-30 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  12. 2026-10-29 18:12 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-10-29 18:12 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-10-29 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  15. 2026-10-28 16:40 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-10-28 16:40 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-10-27 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  18. 2026-10-27 15:05 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-10-27 15:05 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-10-26 16:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  21. 2026-10-26 13:30 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-10-25 18:34 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-10-25 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  24. 2026-10-25 11:55 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-10-25 11:55 UTCVendor advisory
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-10-24 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  2. 2026-10-24 10:22 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-10-24 10:22 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-10-23 08:49 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-10-23 08:49 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-10-22 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  7. 2026-10-22 07:15 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-10-22 07:15 UTCVendor advisory
  9. 2026-10-21 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  10. 2026-10-21 05:43 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-10-21 05:43 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-10-20 04:10 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-10-20 04:10 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-10-19 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  15. 2026-10-19 02:33 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-10-19 02:33 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-10-18 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  18. 2026-10-18 09:10 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-10-18 01:01 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-10-18 01:01 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-10-17 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  22. 2026-10-16 23:27 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-10-16 23:27 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-10-16 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  25. 2026-10-15 21:54 UTCEG score recompute
  26. 2026-10-15 21:54 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-10-14 20:20 UTCEG score recompute
  28. 2026-10-14 20:20 UTCVendor advisory
  29. 2026-10-14 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  30. 2026-10-13 18:46 UTCEG score recompute
  31. 2026-10-13 18:46 UTCVendor advisory
  32. 2026-10-13 18:44 UTCNVD updateCVSS v3 → 7.8
  33. 2026-10-13 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  34. 2026-10-13 08:36 UTCVendor advisory
  35. 2026-10-12 19:24 UTCEG score recompute
  36. 2026-10-12 07:01 UTCVendor advisory
  37. 2026-10-12 02:45 UTCVendor advisory
  38. 2026-10-11 22:31 UTCEG score recompute
  39. 2026-10-11 22:31 UTCVendor advisory
  40. 2026-10-11 18:17 UTCEG score recompute
  41. 2026-10-11 18:17 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-10-11 14:01 UTCEG score recompute
  43. 2026-10-11 14:01 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-10-11 09:47 UTCVendor advisory
  45. 2026-10-11 05:34 UTCVendor advisory
  46. 2026-10-11 01:17 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-10-10 21:02 UTCVendor advisory
  48. 2026-10-10 16:45 UTCVendor advisory
  49. 2026-10-10 12:30 UTCVendor advisory
  50. 2026-10-10 08:16 UTCVendor advisory
  51. 2026-10-10 04:02 UTCVendor advisory
  52. 2026-10-09 23:48 UTCEG score recompute
  53. 2026-10-09 23:48 UTCVendor advisory
  54. 2026-10-09 20:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  55. 2026-10-09 19:34 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-10-09 15:21 UTCVendor advisory
  57. 2026-10-09 11:07 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-10-09 06:53 UTCVendor advisory
  59. 2026-10-09 02:39 UTCVendor advisory
  60. 2026-10-08 22:25 UTCVendor advisory
  61. 2026-10-08 18:11 UTCVendor advisory
  62. 2026-10-08 13:56 UTCVendor advisory
  63. 2026-10-08 09:40 UTCVendor advisory
  64. 2026-10-08 05:26 UTCVendor advisory
  65. 2026-10-08 01:12 UTCEG score recompute
  66. 2026-10-08 01:12 UTCVendor advisory
  67. 2026-10-07 23:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  68. 2026-10-07 20:58 UTCVendor advisory
  69. 2026-10-07 16:44 UTCVendor advisory
  70. 2026-10-07 12:28 UTCVendor advisory
  71. 2026-10-07 08:13 UTCVendor advisory
  72. 2026-10-07 03:58 UTCVendor advisory
  73. 2026-10-06 23:44 UTCVendor advisory
  74. 2026-10-06 19:31 UTCVendor advisory
  75. 2026-10-06 15:17 UTCVendor advisory

Publicly available exploits

(6 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 Metasploit module, 1 Exploit-DB entry, 4 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.

  • Metasploitexploit/linux/local/netfilter_xtables_heap_oob_write_priv_esc✓ verified
    Published Oct 6, 2021

    Netfilter x_tables Heap OOB Write Privilege Escalation

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-50135✓ verified
    Published Jul 15, 2021

    Linux Kernel 2.6.19 < 5.9 - 'Netfilter Local Privilege Escalation

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCtukru/CVE-2021-22555
    Published Aug 5, 2023

    This repo hosts TUKRU's Linux Privilege Escalation exploit (CVE-2021-22555). It demonstrates gaining root privileges via a vulnerability. Tested on Ubuntu 5.8.0-48-generic and COS 5.4.89+. Use responsibly and ethically.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCveritas501/CVE-2021-22555-PipeVersion
    Published Apr 5, 2022

    CVE-2021-22555 exploit rewritten with pipe primitive

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCcgwalters/container-cve-2021-22555
    Published Jul 16, 2021
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCxyjl-ly/CVE-2021-22555-Exploit
    Published Jul 16, 2021

    CVE-2021-22555 Exploit

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2021-22555?
CVE-2021-22555 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on July 7, 2021. A heap out-of-bounds write affecting Linux since v2.6.19-rc1 was discovered in net/netfilter/x_tables.c. This allows an attacker to gain privileges or cause a DoS (via heap memory corruption) through user name space
When was CVE-2021-22555 made public?
CVE-2021-22555 was made public on July 4, 2021: that is the date its CVE record's CNA, Google LLC, gives for when the vulnerability was made public. The CVE record itself was published on July 7, 2021. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of October 13, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2021-22555 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2021-22555 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on October 6, 2025, affecting Linux Kernel. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is available. Apply it.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22555?
CVE-2021-22555 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS into a combined EG score of 9.0 (CRITICAL).
Which products are affected by CVE-2021-22555?
CVE-2021-22555 affects Linux Kernel. The affected packages EchelonGraph has on record, with version ranges, are listed in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2021-22555?
A fix for CVE-2021-22555 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2021-22555 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2021-22555

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