Nullptr dereference when a null char is present in a proto symbol. The symbol is parsed incorrectly, leading to an unchecked call into the proto file's name during generation of the resulting error message. Since the symbol is incorrectly parsed, the file is nullptr. We recommend upgrading to version 3.15.0 or greater.
CVE-2021-22570
This medium-severity CVE scores 6.5 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.1%, top 65% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- Lower severity and no public exploit yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 6.5
- EG Score
- 6.5(medium)
- EPSS
- 83.9%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
January 26, 2022
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (22)
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/tag/v3.15.0
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/04/msg00019.html
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3DVUZPALAQ34TQP6KFNLM4IZS6B32XSA/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5PAGL5M2KGYPN3VEQCRJJE6NA7D5YG5X/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/BTRGBRC5KGCA4SK5MUNLPYJRAGXMBIYY/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IFX6KPNOFHYD6L4XES5PCM3QNSKZBOTQ/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/KQJB6ZPRLKV6WCMX2PRRRQBFAOXFBK6B/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MRWRAXAFR3JR7XCFWTHC2KALSZKWACCE/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NVTWVQRB5OCCTMKEQFY5MYED3DXDVSLP/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220429-0005/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/tag/v3.15.0
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/04/msg00019.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3DVUZPALAQ34TQP6KFNLM4IZS6B32XSA/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5PAGL5M2KGYPN3VEQCRJJE6NA7D5YG5X/
Patch Availability(6)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | protobuf-compiler (2.6.1-1.3ubuntu0.1~esm1) @ xenial | 2026-05-26 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | protobuf-compiler (2.5.0-9ubuntu1+esm1) @ trusty | 2026-05-26 | ubuntu |
| redhat | protobuf-0:3.5.0-15.el8_6 | 2024-05-28 | redhat |
| redhat | protobuf-0:3.6.1-6.el8ost | 2022-12-07 | redhat |
| redhat | protobuf-0:3.14.0-13.el9 | 2022-11-15 | redhat |
| redhat | protobuf-0:3.5.0-15.el8 | 2022-11-08 | redhat |
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
(5 across 5 ecosystems)
Go(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf | — | 3.15.0 | — |
Maven(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| com.google.protobuf:protobuf-java | 2.0.1 ... 3.9.2 (61 versions) | 3.15.0 | — |
NuGet(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google.Protobuf | 0.0.1-test1 ... 3.9.2 (47 versions) | 3.15.0 | — |
Packagist(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| google/protobuf | v3.1.0-alpha-1 ... v3.9.2 (59 versions) | 3.15.0 | — |
PyPI(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| protobuf | 2.0.0beta ... 3.9.2 (64 versions) | 3.15.0 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(8)
Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.
- Microsoft MSRCCVE-2021-225702022-06-05
Nullptr Dereference in Protobuf
- Red HatRHSA-2022:7464MODERATE2022-01-26
RHSA-2022:7464 — Moderate
- Red HatRHSA-2022:7970MODERATE2022-01-26
RHSA-2022:7970 — Moderate
- Red HatRHSA-2022:8847MODERATE2022-01-26
RHSA-2022:8847 — Moderate
- Red HatRHSA-2022:8860MODERATE2022-01-26
RHSA-2022:8860 — Moderate
- Red HatRHSA-2024:3433MODERATE2022-01-26
RHSA-2024:3433 — Moderate
- UbuntuUSN-5490-1LOW
Protocol Buffers vulnerability
- UbuntuUSN-5945-1LOW
Protocol Buffers vulnerabilities
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 9× in last 7d / 42× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. 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. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-11 08:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-09 19:07 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-08 15:12 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-07 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-05 02:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-29 22:02 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-28 04:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 53 moreShow fewer
- 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-17 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 10:40 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 04:08 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 04:08 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-24 16:49 UTCEPSS rescore
Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)
Same vendor
10 shownmsrc · redhat
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-22570?
When was CVE-2021-22570 disclosed?
Is CVE-2021-22570 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22570?
How do I remediate CVE-2021-22570?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2021-22570
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