In order to decrypt SM2 encrypted data an application is expected to call the API function EVP_PKEY_decrypt(). Typically an application will call this function twice. The first time, on entry, the "out" parameter can be NULL and, on exit, the "outlen" parameter is populated with the buffer size required to hold the decrypted plaintext. The application can then allocate a sufficiently sized buffer and call EVP_PKEY_decrypt() again, but this time passing a non-NULL value for the "out" parameter. A bug in the implementation of the SM2 decryption code means that the calculation of the buffer size required to hold the plaintext returned by the first call to EVP_PKEY_decrypt() can be smaller than the actual size required by the second call. This can lead to a buffer overflow when EVP_PKEY_decrypt() is called by the application a second time with a buffer that is too small. A malicious attacker who is able present SM2 content for decryption to an application could cause attacker chosen data to overflow the buffer by up to a maximum of 62 bytes altering the contents of other data held after the buffer, possibly changing application behaviour or causing the application to crash. The location of the buffer is application dependent but is typically heap allocated. Fixed in OpenSSL 1.1.1l (Affected 1.1.1-1.1.1k).
CVE-2021-3711
This critical-severity CVE scores 9.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 2.5%, top 14% 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).
- High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 88%
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 9.8
- EG Score
- 9.8(medium)
- EPSS
- 99.7%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
August 24, 2021
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
Advisory Details (8)
Auto-updated Jul 9, 2026OpenSSL: Multiple Vulnerabilities (GLSA 202210-02) — Gentoo security
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202210-02IBM Spectrum Protect: Multiple Vulnerabilities (GLSA 202209-02) — Gentoo security
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202209-02oss-security - OpenSSL SM2 Decryption Buffer Overflow (CVE-2021-3711), Read buffer overruns processing ASN.1 strings (CVE-2021-3712)
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/08/26/2Patch Availability(1)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | libssl-doc (1.1.1f-1ubuntu2.8) @ focal | 2026-05-26 | ubuntu |
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
(1 across 1 ecosystem)
crates.io(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fixed in | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssl-src | — | 111.16.0 | — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
All Vendor Advisories
(2)
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.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 2× in last 7d / 20× 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.
- 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-06 16:25 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-30 17:30 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-27 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:38 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 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
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- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-04 13:10 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
- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 11:38 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 11:38 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)
Same vendor
10 shownubuntu · msrc
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-120
- CVE-2010-10016EG 10.0CRITICAL
- CVE-2012-10035EG 10.0CRITICAL
- CVE-2009-0948EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2006-3100EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2009-5041EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2010-5333EG 9.8EPSS 97%CRITICAL
- CVE-2013-1331NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2013-0641NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 98%HIGH
- CVE-2012-2763NVD 0.0EG 9.0EPSS 100%NONE
- CVE-2011-4862NVD 0.0EG 9.0EPSS 100%NONE
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-3711?
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What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-3711?
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