An issue was discovered in Linux: KVM through Improper handling of VM_IO|VM_PFNMAP vmas in KVM can bypass RO checks and can lead to pages being freed while still accessible by the VMM and guest. This allows users with the ability to start and control a VM to read/write random pages of memory and can result in local privilege escalation.
CVE-2021-22543
This high-severity CVE scores 7.8 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.7%, top 52% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 7.8
- EG Score
- 7.8(medium)
- EG Risk
- 40(Track)EG Risk 40/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity78% × 45%Exploitation1% × 40%Automatability30% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS
- 47.8%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
May 26, 2021
Last Modified
November 21, 2024
References (14)
- cve-coordination@googlehttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/06/26/1
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://github.com/google/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-7wq5-phmq-m584
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4G5YBUVEPHZYXMKNGBZ3S6INFCTEEL4E/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ROQIXQB7ZAWI3KSGSHR6H5RDUWZI775S/
- cve-coordination@googlehttps://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0002/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/06/26/1
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://github.com/google/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-7wq5-phmq-m584
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/10/msg00010.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/12/msg00012.html
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4G5YBUVEPHZYXMKNGBZ3S6INFCTEEL4E/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ROQIXQB7ZAWI3KSGSHR6H5RDUWZI775S/
- af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210708-0002/
Vendor Advisories for CVE-2021-22543(18)
These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.
- RHSA-2022:5640Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update
- RHSA-2021:3987Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security and bug fix update
- RHSA-2021:3801Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security and bug fix update
- RHSA-2021:3802Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel-rt security and bug fix update
- RHSA-2021:3812Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update
- RHSA-2021:3814Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kpatch-patch security update
- RHSA-2021:3767Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update
- RHSA-2021:3766Red Hat Product SecurityHigh
Red Hat Security Advisory: kernel security update
- +10 more
Patch Availability(24)
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(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Additional Vendor Advisories
(7)
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.
- Red HatRHSA-2021:3768IMPORTANT2021-05-18
RHSA-2021:3768 — Important
- Red HatRHSA-2021:3943IMPORTANT2021-05-18
RHSA-2021:3943 — Important
- Red HatRHSA-2021:4000IMPORTANT2021-05-18
RHSA-2021:4000 — Important
- UbuntuUSN-5070-1MEDIUM
Linux kernel vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-5071-1MEDIUM
Linux kernel vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-5071-2MEDIUM
Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities
- UbuntuUSN-5071-3MEDIUM
Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 11× in last 7d / 49× 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 103 total refreshes for this CVE.
- 2026-07-23 01:57 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 22:44 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-19 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-18 19:59 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-18 10:02 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-16 17:00 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-15 16:55 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-08 15:12 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-07 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-07-04 06:29 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-02 16:57 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 15:03 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-01 02:48 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-30 23:20 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-29 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-24 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-23 21:31 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-22 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 14:54 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-21 01:58 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-19 19:24 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-18 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-17 17:51 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-16 17:50 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-14 23:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-13 05:13 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-12 23:10 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-11 13:58 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-07 15:23 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 22:45 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-06-05 06:09 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-04 13:10 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-06-01 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-31 22:29 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-29 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-27 13:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 16:07 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-05-26 16:07 UTCVendor advisory
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-05-26 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
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Same vendor
10 shownredhat
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10 shownCWE-119
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2021-22543?
When was CVE-2021-22543 disclosed?
Is CVE-2021-22543 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-22543?
How do I remediate CVE-2021-22543?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2021-22543
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2021-22543?
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