Intelligence online17 sources monitored8 actively exploited 7d26 published 24hChecked recently
Vulnerability record

CVE-2021-3156

Sudo Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

HighExploitation confirmedCISA KEV
What should I do?

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: attackers are using it. If you run Sudo, fix it now.

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

US federal civilian agencies must remediate by Apr 27, 2022.

Patch status

Official fix available since

Apply the vendor's update to every affected system. Check the fixed-in versions below where known.

Basis: NVD patch reference

Description

Sudo before 1.9.5p2 contains an off-by-one error that can result in a heap-based buffer overflow, which allows privilege escalation to root via "sudoedit -s" and a command-line argument that ends with a single backslash character.

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database. Official vulnerability data, reproduced as published.

Affected products

ProductVendorSource
SudoSudoKEV

Sources: KEV = CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Version details have not been published yet.

Intelligence timeline

Developments from the last 30 days, newest first.

  1. CVSS scoredUpdateKEV

    CVE-2021-3156 scored CVSS 7.8: Sudo Sudo, Sudo Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

    CISA lists this as exploited in the wild. Unpatched Sudo systems are exposed to active attacks now.

    Basis: NIST National Vulnerability Database

  2. Patch releasedUpdateKEV

    Patch released for CVE-2021-3156: Sudo Sudo, Sudo Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

    An official fix is now available for Sudo Sudo. This vulnerability is being exploited, so apply it promptly.

    Basis: NVD patch reference

1 earlier event is available with a subscription. See plans.

Coverage

We have not published a story about this vulnerability yet.

References