{"id":"CVE-2021-33477","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2021-33477","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T00:31:07.696Z","title":"rxvt-unicode 9.22, rxvt 2.7.10, mrxvt 0.5.4, and Eterm 0.9.7 allow (potentially remote) code execution because of improper handling of certain escape sequences (ESC G Q).","description":"rxvt-unicode 9.22, rxvt 2.7.10, mrxvt 0.5.4, and Eterm 0.9.7 allow (potentially remote) code execution because of improper handling of certain escape sequences (ESC G Q). A response is terminated by a newline.","published":"2021-05-20T20:15:07.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T03:54:37.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":8.8,"severity":"HIGH","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-755"],"affected":["eterm project/eterm","mrxvt project/mrxvt","rxvt-unicode project/rxvt-unicode","rxvt project/rxvt","fedoraproject/fedora","debian/debian linux"],"epss":{"score":0.04089,"percentile":0.90654,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (4.09%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://cvs.schmorp.de/rxvt-unicode/Changes?view=log","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://cvs.schmorp.de/rxvt-unicode/src/command.C?r1=1.582&r2=1.583","tags":["Patch","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://git.enlightenment.org/apps/eterm.git/log/","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/05/msg00026.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00010.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00011.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00012.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6RFMU5YXXNYYVA7G2DAHRXXHO6JKVFUT/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AO52OLNOOKOCZSJCN3R7Q25XA32BWNWP/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DUV4LDVZVW7KCGPAMFZD4ZJ4FVLPOX4C/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NZWGE2RJONBEHSPCBUAW72NTRTIFKZAX/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SLPVEPBH37EBR4R54RMC6GD33J37HJXD/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/UXAKO6N6NKTR6Z6KVAPEXSZQMRU52SGA/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162621/rxvt-2.7.0-rxvt-unicode-9.22-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-17","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202209-07","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://sourceforge.net/projects/materm/files/mrxvt%20source/","tags":["Product","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://sourceforge.net/projects/rxvt/files/rxvt-dev/","tags":["Product","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/05/01/20","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/05/17/1","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://cvs.schmorp.de/rxvt-unicode/Changes?view=log","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://cvs.schmorp.de/rxvt-unicode/src/command.C?r1=1.582&r2=1.583","tags":["Patch","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://git.enlightenment.org/apps/eterm.git/log/","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/05/msg00026.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00010.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00011.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/06/msg00012.html","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6RFMU5YXXNYYVA7G2DAHRXXHO6JKVFUT/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AO52OLNOOKOCZSJCN3R7Q25XA32BWNWP/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DUV4LDVZVW7KCGPAMFZD4ZJ4FVLPOX4C/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/NZWGE2RJONBEHSPCBUAW72NTRTIFKZAX/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SLPVEPBH37EBR4R54RMC6GD33J37HJXD/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/UXAKO6N6NKTR6Z6KVAPEXSZQMRU52SGA/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162621/rxvt-2.7.0-rxvt-unicode-9.22-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202105-17","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202209-07","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://sourceforge.net/projects/materm/files/mrxvt%20source/","tags":["Product","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://sourceforge.net/projects/rxvt/files/rxvt-dev/","tags":["Product","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/05/01/20","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/05/17/1","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-33477","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}