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MEDIUM

CVE-2021-38153

CVSS v3

5.9

MEDIUM

EPSS Score

6.2 %

exploit probability, as of 2026-10-19

CISA KEV

No

known exploited

Exploitation

—

SSVC status

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Affected and fixed versions

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • kafkaBitnamifrom 2.0.0 · fixed in 2.6.3
  • org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.11Mavenfrom 2.0.0 · no fixed version listed
  • org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12Mavenfrom 2.8.0 · fixed in 2.8.1and 2 other packages

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2021-38153 Red Hat Product Security9 products fixed · 8 known affected

    Kafka: Timing Attack Vulnerability for Apache Kafka Connect and Clients

    kafka-clients as a component of Red Hat build of Quarkus · kafka-clients as a component of Red Hat Decision Manager 7 · kafka-clients as a component of Red Hat Integration Camel Quarkus 1

  • RHSA-2022:6407 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Integration Camel-K 1.8 security update

  • RHSA-2022:5606 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Integration Camel Extensions for Quarkus 2.7 security update

  • RHSA-2022:5532 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Fuse 7.11.0 release and security update

  • RHSA-2022:2232 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Data Grid 8.3.1 security update

  • RHSA-2022:0737 Red Hat Product Security1 product fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat build of Eclipse Vert.x 4.2.5 security update

4 more advisories

Full record on NVD

Description

Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.

Technical details

Published
2021-09-22

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-38153?

Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.

Is CVE-2021-38153 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2021-38153 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 6.2% on 2026-10-19, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-38153?

CVE-2021-38153 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.9 (MEDIUM severity).

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