Discover the impact of CVE-2021-21811, a critical memory corruption vulnerability in AT&T Labs Xmill 0.7, allowing attackers to trigger a heap buffer overflow. Learn about the technical details and mitigation strategies.
A memory corruption vulnerability in AT&T Labs Xmill 0.7 allows a specially crafted XML file to trigger a heap buffer overflow, leading to a high-severity attack with a CVSS base score of 8.1.
Understanding CVE-2021-21811
This CVE identifies a critical memory corruption vulnerability in AT&T Labs Xmill 0.7 that opens the door to potential exploitation by adversaries.
What is CVE-2021-21811?
CVE-2021-21811 discloses a memory corruption flaw in the XML parsing feature of AT&T Labs Xmill 0.7. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by providing a malicious XML file, causing a heap buffer overflow.
The Impact of CVE-2021-21811
With a CVSS base score of 8.1 (High severity), this vulnerability poses significant risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of affected systems. The attack vector is network-based and does not require any special privileges.
Technical Details of CVE-2021-21811
This section covers the specific technical details related to CVE-2021-21811.
Vulnerability Description
The vulnerability stems from an integer underflow issue in the CreateLabelOrAttrib functionality of AT&T Labs Xmill 0.7, allowing malicious XML files to trigger a heap buffer overflow.
Affected Systems and Versions
AT&T Labs Xmill 0.7 is the affected version identified in this CVE. No other specific versions or systems are mentioned as affected.
Exploitation Mechanism
Adversaries can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious XML file and providing it to the system. The XML parsing functionality of Xmill 0.7 mishandles the input, leading to a heap buffer overflow.
Mitigation and Prevention
To safeguard systems from CVE-2021-21811, immediate steps and long-term security practices should be implemented.
Immediate Steps to Take
Long-Term Security Practices
Patching and Updates
Ensure timely patch management for all software components to address known vulnerabilities and reduce the attack surface.