Is CVE-2021-43979 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2021-43979 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2021-43979 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2021-43979 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-43979?

CVE-2021-43979 has a CVSS score of 5.3 (MEDIUM).

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MEDIUM

CVE-2021-43979

CWE-670Published: November 17, 2021· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

5.3

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

Styra Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper through 3.7.0 mishandles concurrency, sometimes resulting in incorrect access control. The data replication mechanism allows policies to access the Kubernetes cluster state. During data replication, OPA/Gatekeeper does not wait for the replication to finish before processing a request, which might cause inconsistencies between the replicated resources in OPA/Gatekeeper and the resources actually present in the cluster. Inconsistency can later be reflected in a policy bypass. NOTE: the vendor disagrees that this is a vulnerability, because Kubernetes states are only eventually consistent

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2021-43979 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.