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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2021-3492

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2021-04-17
  • Fixed in20.10 · 20.04 · 18.04
  • WeaknessCWE-401 · CWE-415

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Shiftfs, an out-of-tree stacking file system included in Ubuntu Linux kernels, did not properly handle faults occurring during copy_from_user() correctly. These could lead to either a double-free situation or memory not being freed at all. An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (kernel memory exhaustion) or gain privileges via executing arbitrary code. AKA ZDI-CAN-13562.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2021-04-1705:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2026-10-2319:23First public proof of conceptPoC-in-GitHub

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-3492?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-3492?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Canonical ubuntu linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
20.10< 20.1020.10
20.4≥ 18.04.1, < 20.0420.04
18.4< 18.0418.04

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Canonical ubuntu linux to 20.10 · 20.04 · 18.04

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-10-23 19:23 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
1 repository, unverifiedsynacktiv/CVE-2021-3492
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • CNACVSS 3.18.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.17.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.07.2read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-401, CWE-415read 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-401, CWE-415read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score1.5 %2026-10-23
  • PoC-in-GitHubproof of concept1read 2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2021-04-17
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-3492?

Shiftfs, an out-of-tree stacking file system included in Ubuntu Linux kernels, did not properly handle faults occurring during copy_from_user() correctly. These could lead to either a double-free situation or memory not being freed at all. An attacker could use this to cause a denial of service (kernel memory exhaustion) or gain privileges via executing arbitrary code. AKA ZDI-CAN-13562.

Is CVE-2021-3492 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2021-3492 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 1.5% on 2026-10-23, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-3492?

CVE-2021-3492 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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