CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2021-25216

HIGHEPSS 100th pctl
8.1
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

In BIND 9.5.0 -> 9.11.29, 9.12.0 -> 9.16.13, and versions BIND 9.11.3-S1 -> 9.11.29-S1 and 9.16.8-S1 -> 9.16.13-S1 of BIND Supported Preview Edition, as well as release versions 9.17.0 -> 9.17.1 of the BIND 9.17 development branch, BIND servers are vulnerable if they are running an affected version and are configured to use GSS-TSIG features. In a configuration which uses BIND's default settings the vulnerable code path is not exposed, but a server can be rendered vulnerable by explicitly setting values for the tkey-gssapi-keytab or tkey-gssapi-credential configuration options. Although the default configuration is not vulnerable, GSS-TSIG is frequently used in networks where BIND is integrated with Samba, as well as in mixed-server environments that combine BIND servers with Active Directory domain controllers. For servers that meet these conditions, the ISC SPNEGO implementation is vulnerable to various attacks, depending on the CPU architecture for which BIND was built: For named binaries compiled for 64-bit platforms, this flaw can be used to trigger a buffer over-read, leading to a server crash. For named binaries compiled for 32-bit platforms, this flaw can be used to trigger a server crash due to a buffer overflow and possibly also to achieve remote code execution. We have determined that standard SPNEGO implementations are available in the MIT and Heimdal Kerberos libraries, which support a broad range of operating systems, rendering the ISC implementation unnecessary and obsolete. Therefore, to reduce the attack surface for BIND users, we will be removing the ISC SPNEGO implementation in the April releases of BIND 9.11 and 9.16 (it had already been dropped from BIND 9.17). We would not normally remove something from a stable ESV (Extended Support Version) of BIND, but since system libraries can replace the ISC SPNEGO implementation, we have made an exception in this case for reasons of stability and security.

How to fix

Remediation Available
bind9Debian
Fixed in:1:9.16.15-1CVE-2021-25216
Fixed in:1:9.16.15-1CVE-2021-25216
Fixed in:1:9.16.15-1CVE-2021-25216
Fixed in:1:9.16.15-1CVE-2021-25216
bind9Ubuntu
Fixed in:1:9.9.5.dfsg-3ubuntu0.19+esm13USN-7739-1
Fixed in:1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-8ubuntu1.19USN-4929-1
Fixed in:1:9.11.3+dfsg-1ubuntu1.15USN-4929-1
Fixed in:1:9.16.1-0ubuntu2.8USN-4929-1

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Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityHigh
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploit Intelligence

82.37%probability of exploitation in 30 days
100thpercentile

Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 100% of all known CVEs.

References

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2014-0160High7.5100%KEVFix
CVE-2025-5777High7.5100%KEV + RansomFix
CVE-2021-4034High7.895%KEVFix
CVE-2020-8794Critical9.889%-Fix
CVE-2023-49285High8.689%-Fix
CVE-2023-21769High7.589%-Fix

Common questions

How do I fix CVE-2021-25216?

Published advisories record a fix for 2 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.

Is CVE-2021-25216 being actively exploited?

Not that we know of. CVE-2021-25216 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 82.4% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 100% of all scored CVEs.

How severe is CVE-2021-25216?

CVE-2021-25216 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.1, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.

What does CVE-2021-25216 affect?

Published advisories record a fix for bind9 (Debian), bind9 (Ubuntu). Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.

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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.