sshd in OpenSSH 6.2 through 8.x before 8.8, when certain non-default configurations are used, allows privilege escalation because supplemental groups are not initialized as expected. Helper programs for AuthorizedKeysCommand and AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand may run with privileges associated with group memberships of the sshd process, if the configuration specifies running the command as a different user.
CVE-2021-41617
“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.
Score 7.0 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: HIGH) published 2022-05-24. NVD baseline CVSS 7.0; sources differ by 0.0.
- Public exploit or proof-of-concept code is available
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.0
- EG Score
- 7.0HIGHmedium confidence
- EG Risk
- 48EG Risk 48/100
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)Severity70% × 45%Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 7.0 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.Exploitation40% × 40%EchelonGraph's fixed weight for EG-KEV Tier 3 (Elevated): a constant, not a probability.Automatability0% × 15%CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low or medium mission impact; Track* at high (mission-essential systems).Exploitation none (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. - EPSS PROB
- 2.5%
- EPSS %ILE
- 84th
- KEV
- Not listed
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (7.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 7.0 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.
- EG Severity
- 7.0 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
- EG Likelihood
- 2.5% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-20). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at low or medium mission impact; Track* at high (mission-essential systems).CISA BOD 26-04: 14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low or medium mission impact; Track* at high (mission-essential systems).
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
Exploitation none (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)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
In CISA KEV no (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
Published
September 26, 2021
Last Modified
October 14, 2026
Advisory Details (10)
Auto-updated Jul 14, 2026oss-security - Announce: OpenSSH 8.8 released
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/09/26/1[SECURITY] [DSA 5586-1] openssh security update
https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5586[SECURITY] Fedora 35 Update: openssh-8.7p1-2.fc35 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/W44V2PFQH5YLRN6ZJTVRKAD7CU6CYYET/[SECURITY] Fedora 33 Update: openssh-8.4p1-8.fc33 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/KVI7RWM2JLNMWTOFK6BDUSGNOIPZYPUT/[SECURITY] Fedora 34 Update: openssh-8.6p1-5.fc34 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6XJIONMHMKZDTMH6BQR5TNLF2WDCGWED/[SECURITY] [DLA 3694-1] openssh security update
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00017.html1190975 – (CVE-2021-41617) VUL-0: CVE-2021-41617: openssh-openssl1,openssh: privilege escalation when AuthorizedKeysCommand/AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand are configured
https://bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1190975Vendor Advisories for CVE-2021-41617(5)
These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.
- GHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844GitHub Security AdvisoriesHigh
sshd in OpenSSH 6.2 through 8.x before 8.8, when certain non-default configurations are used,...
- RHSA-2022:2013Red Hat Product SecurityMedium
Red Hat Security Advisory: openssh security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- CVE-2021-41617Palo Alto Networks Security Advisories
CVE-2021-41617 Informational: Impact of the OpenSSH Vulnerability CVE-2021-41617 on PAN-OS
- RHSA-2021:4782Red Hat Product SecurityMedium
Red Hat Security Advisory: openssh security update
- CVE-2021-41617Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC)High
sshd in OpenSSH 6.2 through 8.x before 8.8 when certain non-default configurations are used allows privilege escalation because supplemental groups are not initialized as expected. Helper programs for AuthorizedKeysCommand and AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand may run with privileges associated with group memberships of the sshd process if the configuration specifies running the command as a different user.
Patch Availability(4)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fix (by version range) / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | ssh-askpass-gnome (1:9.3p1-1ubuntu3.2) @ mantic | 2026-10-21 | ubuntu |
| ubuntu | openssh-sftp-server (1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.10+esm2) @ xenial | 2026-10-21 | ubuntu |
| redhat | openssh-0:8.0p1-13.el8 | 2022-05-10 | redhat |
| redhat | openssh-0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 | 2021-11-23 | 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
(19 across 19 ecosystems)
Alpine:v3.11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.15(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.16(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.17(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.18(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.19(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.20(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.21(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.22(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.23(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Alpine:v3.24(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Debian:10(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | 1:7.9p1-10, 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u1, 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u2, 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u3 |
| — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | 1:8.4p1-5, 1:8.4p1-5+deb11u1, 1:8.4p1-5+deb11u2 |
| — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssh | — |
| — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Additional Vendor Advisories
(2)
Vendors that published advisories for this CVE beyond the curated set above. Broader coverage but minimal per-row detail — click through for the original advisory.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 11× in last 7d / 47× 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 96 of 257 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. 4 repeat rows among the latest 100 are merged into the row they repeat. The 161 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.
- 2026-10-23 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-22 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-21 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-21 08:58 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-21 08:58 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-21 08:58 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.0
- 2026-10-20 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-19 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-18 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-18 08:53 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-16 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-15 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-14 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-14 12:26 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-14 12:26 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.0
- 2026-10-14 11:56 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-14 11:56 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-14 11:56 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.0
- 2026-10-13 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-12 19:09 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-12 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-11 23:35 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-11 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-10 19:56 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
Show 71 moreShow fewer
- 2026-10-09 20:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-08 22:28 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-08 22:28 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.0
- 2026-10-08 21:32 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-08 21:32 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-10-08 21:32 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.0
- 2026-10-08 16:40 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-07 23:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-06 15:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-05 17:40 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-03 14:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-02 16:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-10-01 19:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-30 15:41 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-09-30 15:00 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-29 15:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-28 13:47 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-28 02:02 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-09-27 13:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-26 15:54 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-26 00:21 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-24 14:00 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-23 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-22 14:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-21 20:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-20 20:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-19 15:38 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-18 19:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-17 19:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-16 14:05 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-15 03:06 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-12 14:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-11 14:49 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-11 09:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 84th percentile
- 2026-09-08 21:56 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-08 09:56 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-09-08 09:56 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-09-08 09:56 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844 · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.0
- 2026-09-07 15:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-05 15:25 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-04 13:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-04 05:03 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-02 14:09 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-09-01 03:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-30 19:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-30 02:13 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-30 01:19 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-28 21:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-27 14:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-26 14:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-23 00:16 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-21 23:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-20 22:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-19 17:01 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-18 13:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-17 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-16 14:53 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-16 02:11 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-15 01:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-13 21:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-13 13:21 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-12 13:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-11 13:38 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-08 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-07 16:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
- 2026-08-05 19:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 2.5% · 83rd percentile
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 GitHub PoC). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.
- Open source ↗GitHub PoCAdnanApriliyansyahh/CVE-2021-41617Published Sep 2, 2025
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Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-41617?
When was the CVE record for CVE-2021-41617 published?
Is CVE-2021-41617 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-41617?
How do I remediate CVE-2021-41617?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2021-41617
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2021-41617?
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