CVE-2021-4115

What it is

There is a flaw in polkit which can allow an unprivileged user to cause polkit to crash, due to process file descriptor exhaustion. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to availability. NOTE: Polkit process outage duration is tied to the failing process being reaped and a new one being spawned

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited locally on the machine with a low-privilege account. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2022-02-21 22:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 04:19 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 0.5% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 5.5 MEDIUM (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2022-02-21 22:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 04:19 UTC

Exploit probability

0.5% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled resource consumption

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Polkit Project Polkit 0.117
• Redhat Enterprise Linux 8.0
• Fedoraproject Fedora 34
• Fedoraproject Fedora 35
• Canonical Ubuntu Linux 20.04
• Canonical Ubuntu Linux 21.10
• Debian Linux 11.0
• Oracle Zfs Storage Appliance Kit 8.8

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 5.5

Attack vector

Local

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

Low

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2021-4115.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2021-4115. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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