In PHP versions 7.3.x up to and including 7.3.31, 7.4.x below 7.4.25 and 8.0.x below 8.0.12, when running PHP FPM SAPI with main FPM daemon process running as root and child worker processes running as lower-privileged users, it is possible for the child processes to access memory shared with the main process and write to it, modifying it in a way that would cause the root process to conduct invalid memory reads and writes, which can be used to escalate privileges from local unprivileged user to the root user.
CVE-2021-21703
This high-severity CVE scores 7.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 1.3%, top 32% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory enrichment pending alignment with NVD CVSS.
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.8
- EG Score
- 7.8(medium)
- EG Risk
- —
- EPSS
- 68.3%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
October 25, 2021
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (24)
- security@phphttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/10/26/7
- security@phphttps://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=81026
- security@phphttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00021.html
- security@phphttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/6PZVLICZUJMXOGWOUWSBAEGIVTF6Y6V3/
- security@phphttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/JO5RA6YOBGGGKLIA6F6BQRZDDECF5L3R/
- security@phphttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PBM3KKB3RY2YPOKNMC4HIH7IH3T3WC74/
- security@phphttps://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202209-20
- security@phphttps://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20211118-0003/
- security@phphttps://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4992
- security@phphttps://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4993
- security@phphttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html
- security@phphttps://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/10/26/7
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=81026
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00021.html
Vendor Advisories for CVE-2021-21703(1)
These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.
Patch Availability(3)
| Vendor / Ecosystem | Fixed in / Patch | Released | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ubuntu | php7.0-zip (7.0.33-0ubuntu0.16.04.16+esm2) @ xenial | 2026-05-26 | ubuntu |
| redhat | rh-php73-php-0:7.3.33-1.el7 | 2022-07-04 | redhat |
| redhat | php:7.4-8060020220120080432.0a326c83 | 2022-05-10 | redhat |
Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.
Weakness Classification(2)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Additional Vendor Advisories
(3)
Vendors that published advisories for this CVE beyond the curated set above. Broader coverage but minimal per-row detail — click through for the original advisory.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 46× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
Showing the most recent 100 of 101 total refreshes for this CVE.
- 2026-07-22 22:43 UTCEG score recompute▲ 0.80
- 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-26 08:32 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 08:32 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-26 08:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 07:17 UTCEPSS rescore
Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)
Same vendor
10 shownmsrc · redhat
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-787 · CWE-284
- CVE-2007-0158EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2007-0899EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2010-5305EG 9.8EPSS 92%CRITICAL
- CVE-2010-20115EG 9.3CRITICAL
- CVE-2010-4398NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 95%HIGH
- CVE-2010-3333NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2010-2883NVD 7.3EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2010-1297NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2009-3953NVD 8.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
- CVE-2009-3129NVD 7.8EG 9.0 KEVEPSS 100%HIGH
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-21703?
When was CVE-2021-21703 disclosed?
Is CVE-2021-21703 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-21703?
How do I remediate CVE-2021-21703?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2021-21703
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