CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2021-42694

HIGHEPSS 90th pctl
8.3
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

An issue was discovered in the character definitions of the Unicode Specification through 14.0. The specification allows an adversary to produce source code identifiers such as function names using homoglyphs that render visually identical to a target identifier. Adversaries can leverage this to inject code via adversarial identifier definitions in upstream software dependencies invoked deceptively in downstream software. NOTE: the Unicode Consortium offers the following alternative approach to presenting this concern. An issue is noted in the nature of international text that can affect applications that implement support for The Unicode Standard (all versions). Unless mitigated, an adversary could produce source code identifiers using homoglyph characters that render visually identical to but are distinct from a target identifier. In this way, an adversary could inject adversarial identifier definitions in upstream software that are not detected by human reviewers and are invoked deceptively in downstream software. The Unicode Consortium has documented this class of security vulnerability in its document, Unicode Technical Report #36, Unicode Security Considerations. The Unicode Consortium also provides guidance on mitigations for this class of issues in Unicode Technical Standard #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms.

How to fix

Remediation Available
unicodeNVD
Affected:< 14.0.0Fixed in:14.0.0CVE-2021-42694derived from NVD

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 InteractionRequired
ScopeChanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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

Exploit Intelligence

4.49%probability of exploitation in 30 days
90thpercentile

High risk: more likely to be exploited than 90% of all known CVEs.

References

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-94 (Code Injection) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVESeverityCVSSEPSSExploitedFix
CVE-2017-9841Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2015-1635Critical9.8100%KEV-
CVE-2022-22954Critical9.8100%KEV + Ransom-
CVE-2021-22204Medium6.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2025-3248Critical9.8100%KEVFix
CVE-2012-0158High8.8100%KEV-
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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.