Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- EPSS is 0.32% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2021-32846High confidence
Moby HyperKit uninitialized memory use in virtio-sock pci_vtsock_proc_tx
moby · hyperkit
7.7HighCVSS 3.1
Within 7 days
Patch availableHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
- Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs moby hyperkit and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Patch available01
What, why and how
HyperKit is a toolkit for embedding hypervisor capabilities in an application. In versions 0.20210107, function `pci_vtsock_proc_tx` in `virtio-sock` can lead to to uninitialized memory use. In this situation, there is a check for the return value to be less or equal to `VTSOCK_MAXSEGS`, but that check is not sufficient because the function can return `-1` if it finds an error it cannot recover from. Moreover, the negative return value will be used by `iovec_pull` in a while condition that can further lead to more corruption because the function is not designed to handle a negative `iov_len`. This issue may lead to a guest crashing the host causing a denial of service and, under certain circumstance, memory corruption. This issue is fixed in commit af5eba2360a7351c08dfd9767d9be863a50ebaba.
What
HyperKit is a toolkit for embedding hypervisor capabilities in an application. In versions 0.20210107, function `pci_vtsock_proc_tx` in `virtio-sock` can lead to to uninitialized memory use. In this situation, there is a check for the return value to be less or equal to `VTSOCK_MAXSEGS`, but that check is not sufficient because the function can return `-1` if it finds an error it cannot recover from. Moreover, the negative return value will be used by `iovec_pull` in a while condition that can further lead to more corruption because the function is not designed to handle a negative `iov_len`. This issue may lead to a guest crashing the host causing a denial of service and, under certain circumstance, memory corruption. This issue is fixed in commit af5eba2360a7351c08dfd9767d9be863a50ebaba.
Why
The product uses or accesses a resource that has not been initialized.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may disrupt the affected service.
What
HyperKit is a toolkit for embedding hypervisor capabilities in an application. In versions 0.20210107, function `pci_vtsock_proc_tx` in `virtio-sock` can lead to to uninitialized memory use. In this situation, there is a check for the return value to be less or equal to `VTSOCK_MAXSEGS`, but that check is not sufficient because the function can return `-1` if it finds an error it cannot recover from. Moreover, the negative return value will be used by `iovec_pull` in a while condition that can further lead to more corruption because the function is not designed to handle a negative `iov_len`. This issue may lead to a guest crashing the host causing a denial of service and, under certain circumstance, memory corruption. This issue is fixed in commit af5eba2360a7351c08dfd9767d9be863a50ebaba.
Why
The product uses or accesses a resource that has not been initialized.
How
An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may disrupt the affected service.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- local access → Use of Uninitialized Resource → disrupt the affected service
- Attack surface
- Local
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-908 ↗
CWE-908: Use of Uninitialized Resource. The product uses or accesses a resource that has not been initialized.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Patch available
- Action
- Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 17 Feb 2023 · Last source change 10 Mar 2025, 21:09 UTC · CWE-908 · Use of Uninitialized Resource
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-19578
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.