CVE-2021-38578

CRITICALNVD 7.49.8
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

“▲” beside the score: it is higher than NVD's CVSS score.

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2022-03-04. NVD baseline CVSS 7.4; sources differ by 2.4.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory, NVD CVSS v3
Trending — 4 sources updated this week

Also known asEUVD-2021-25020 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD

9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixRemediate within your standard update timelines (the SSVC decision on this page).
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 1.0%CVSS: 7.4Exploit: None knownExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

Existing CommBuffer checks in SmmEntryPoint will not catch underflow when computing BufferSize.

CVSS v3
7.4
EG Score
9.8CRITICALmedium confidence
EG Risk
45
EG Risk 45/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity98% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 9.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation1.0% × 40%
FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low or medium mission impact; Track* at high (mission-essential systems).
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.
EPSS PROB
1.0%
EPSS %ILE
63rd
KEV
Not listed

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (9.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.

EG Severity
9.8 CRITICALCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
1.0% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-01). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at low or medium mission impact; Track* at high (mission-essential systems).CISA BOD 26-04: 14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low or medium mission impact; Track* at high (mission-essential systems).

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines.

Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

Published

March 3, 2022

Last Modified

November 3, 2025

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Oct 14, 2026
Patch available.
Web page

SA-2023024 - Insyde Software

https://www.insyde.com/security-pledge/SA-2023024
Web pageMentions a patch (unverified)

[SECURITY] [DLA 4207-1] edk2 security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/06/msg00007.html

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2021-38578(2)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Patch Availability(2)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntuqemu-efi (0~20160408.ffea0a2c-2ubuntu0.2+esm3) @ xenial2026-11-01ubuntu
redhatedk2-0:20221207gitfff6d81270b5-9.el9_22023-05-09redhat

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.

Affected Packages

(4 across 4 ecosystems)
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
edk22020.11-2, 2020.11-2+deb11u1, 2020.11-2+deb11u2
  • every version up to 2020.11-2+deb11u3: fixed in 2020.11-2+deb11u3
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
edk2—
  • every version up to 2022.11-1: fixed in 2022.11-1
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
edk2—
  • every version up to 2022.11-1: fixed in 2022.11-1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
edk2—
  • every version up to 2022.11-1: fixed in 2022.11-1
—

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Additional Vendor Advisories

(1)

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 30× in last 7d / 96× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. 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. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 279 refreshes on record for this CVE.

A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. None are among the latest 100 rows. The 179 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.

  1. 2026-11-02 09:43 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-11-02 09:43 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-11-02 09:43 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  4. 2026-11-01 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  5. 2026-11-01 11:14 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-11-01 11:14 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-11-01 11:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  8. 2026-10-31 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  9. 2026-10-31 12:44 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-10-31 12:44 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-10-31 12:44 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  12. 2026-10-30 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  13. 2026-10-30 14:13 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-10-30 14:13 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-10-30 14:13 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  16. 2026-10-29 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  17. 2026-10-29 15:43 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-10-29 15:43 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  19. 2026-10-28 17:04 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-10-28 17:04 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-10-28 17:03 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  22. 2026-10-28 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  23. 2026-10-27 18:28 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-10-27 18:28 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-10-27 18:28 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-10-27 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  2. 2026-10-26 19:57 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-10-26 19:57 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-10-26 19:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  5. 2026-10-26 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  6. 2026-10-25 19:19 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-10-25 19:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  8. 2026-10-25 18:24 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-10-25 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  10. 2026-10-24 20:46 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-10-24 20:46 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-10-24 20:46 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  13. 2026-10-24 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  14. 2026-10-23 22:15 UTCEG score recompute
  15. 2026-10-23 22:15 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-10-23 22:15 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  17. 2026-10-23 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  18. 2026-10-22 23:45 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-10-22 23:45 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-10-22 23:45 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  21. 2026-10-22 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  22. 2026-10-22 01:15 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-10-22 01:15 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-10-22 01:15 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  25. 2026-10-21 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 63rd percentile
  26. 2026-10-21 02:35 UTCEG score recompute
  27. 2026-10-21 02:35 UTCVendor advisory
  28. 2026-10-21 02:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  29. 2026-10-20 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  30. 2026-10-20 03:48 UTCEG score recompute
  31. 2026-10-20 03:48 UTCVendor advisory
  32. 2026-10-20 03:48 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  33. 2026-10-19 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  34. 2026-10-19 04:34 UTCEG score recompute
  35. 2026-10-19 04:34 UTCVendor advisory
  36. 2026-10-19 04:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  37. 2026-10-18 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  38. 2026-10-18 06:02 UTCEG score recompute
  39. 2026-10-18 06:02 UTCVendor advisory
  40. 2026-10-18 06:02 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  41. 2026-10-17 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  42. 2026-10-17 07:27 UTCEG score recompute
  43. 2026-10-17 07:27 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-10-17 07:27 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  45. 2026-10-16 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  46. 2026-10-16 08:55 UTCEG score recompute
  47. 2026-10-16 08:55 UTCVendor advisory
  48. 2026-10-16 08:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  49. 2026-10-15 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  50. 2026-10-15 08:09 UTCEG score recompute
  51. 2026-10-15 08:09 UTCVendor advisory
  52. 2026-10-15 08:08 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  53. 2026-10-14 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  54. 2026-10-14 04:18 UTCEG score recompute
  55. 2026-10-14 04:18 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-10-14 04:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  57. 2026-10-13 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  58. 2026-10-12 23:57 UTCVendor advisory
  59. 2026-10-12 23:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-grqq-3jqg-g95p · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  60. 2026-10-12 19:12 UTCEG score recompute
  61. 2026-10-12 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  62. 2026-10-11 23:37 UTCEG score recompute
  63. 2026-10-11 13:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  64. 2026-10-10 19:56 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  65. 2026-10-09 20:55 UTCOSV refresh
  66. 2026-10-09 20:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  67. 2026-10-08 16:39 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  68. 2026-10-07 23:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  69. 2026-10-06 15:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  70. 2026-10-05 17:40 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  71. 2026-10-04 23:19 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  72. 2026-10-03 14:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  73. 2026-10-01 19:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile
  74. 2026-09-30 15:39 UTCEG score recompute
  75. 2026-09-30 15:00 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 1.0% · 62nd percentile

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2021-38578?
CVE-2021-38578 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on March 3, 2022. Existing CommBuffer checks in SmmEntryPoint will not catch underflow when computing BufferSize.
When was the CVE record for CVE-2021-38578 published?
The CVE record for CVE-2021-38578 was published on March 3, 2022. That is the record's publication date; the vulnerability itself may have been made public earlier. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of November 3, 2025; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2021-38578 actively exploited?
CVE-2021-38578 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 1.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (63rd percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-38578?
CVE-2021-38578 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.4 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).
How do I remediate CVE-2021-38578?
A fix for CVE-2021-38578 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2021-38578 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

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