HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2021-22901
HIGH

CVE-2021-22901

CWE-416Published: June 11, 2021· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

8.1
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

curl 7.75.0 through 7.76.1 suffers from a use-after-free vulnerability resulting in already freed memory being used when a TLS 1.3 session ticket arrives over a connection. A malicious server can use this in rare unfortunate circumstances to potentially reach remote code execution in the client. When libcurl at run-time sets up support for TLS 1.3 session tickets on a connection using OpenSSL, it stores pointers to the transfer in-memory object for later retrieval when a session ticket arrives. If the connection is used by multiple transfers (like with a reused HTTP/1.1 connection or multiplexed HTTP/2 connection) that first transfer object might be freed before the new session is established on that connection and then the function will access a memory buffer that might be freed. When using that memory, libcurl might even call a function pointer in the object, making it possible for a remote code execution if the server could somehow manage to get crafted memory content into the correct place in memory.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2021-22901 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 8.1.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-416): Use-after-free vulnerabilities involve accessing memory after it has been freed, often enabling arbitrary code execution.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityHigh
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

haxx1 product(s)
curl
netapp24 product(s)
active iq unified managercloud backuponcommand insightoncommand workflow automationsnapcentersolidfire\, enterprise sds \& hci storage nodesolidfire \& hci management nodesolidfire baseboard management controller firmwarehci compute node firmwarehci compute nodeh300e firmwareh300e+12
Oracle7 product(s)
communications cloud native core binding support functioncommunications cloud native core network function cloud native environmentcommunications cloud native core network repository functioncommunications cloud native core network slice selection functioncommunications cloud native core service communication proxyessbasemysql server
siemens1 product(s)
sinec infrastructure network services
splunk1 product(s)
universal forwarder
Source: NVD CPE · 36 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
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Official Patches & Advisories

All References (20)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2021-22901
CVSS Score8.1 / 10
SeverityHIGH
WeaknessCWE-416
CISA KEVNo
Affected5 vendor(s)
PublishedJun 11, 2021

Related CVEs (CWE-416)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2021-22901 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWatch. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.