CVE-2021-3560
Red Hat Polkit Incorrect Authorization Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 2 June 2023). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the privileges of the requestor to the root user. This flaw could be used by an unprivileged local attacker to, for example, create a new local administrator. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 23.71% probability · 98th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 15 June 2021
- CISA KEV
- Listed 12 May 2023 · due 2 June 2023
- Weakness
- CWE-863, CWE-754
- Affected
- polkit project/polkit · debian/debian linux · canonical/ubuntu linux · redhat/virtualization · redhat/virtualization host · redhat/openshift container platform
- Source
- secalert@redhat.com
EPSS 23.7% since 30 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3560
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172836/polkit-Authentication-Bypass.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172846/Facebook-Fizz-Denial-Of-Service.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.blog/2021-06-10-privilege-escalation-polkit-root-on-linux-with-bug/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172836/polkit-Authentication-Bypass.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/172846/Facebook-Fizz-Denial-Of-Service.htmlThird Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.blog/2021-06-10-privilege-escalation-polkit-root-on-linux-with-bug/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-3560US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.