CVE-2021-3156
7.8 · HIGH Actively ExploitedOverview
CVE-2021-3156 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting sudo_project sudo. It was published on January 26, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating active exploitation in the wild.
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
Sudo before 1.9.5p2 contains an off-by-one error that can result in a heap-based buffer overflow, which allows privilege escalation to root via "sudoedit -s" and a command-line argument that ends with a single backslash character.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from sudo_project. Update sudo to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| sudo_project | sudo | >= 1.8.2, < 1.8.32 | Affected |
| beyondtrust | privilege_management_for_mac | >= 0, < 21.1.1 | Affected |
| beyondtrust | privilege_management_for_unix\/linux | >= 0, < 10.3.2-10 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2021-3156?
CVE-2021-3156 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting sudo_project sudo. It was published on January 26, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH). This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating active exploitation in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2021-3156?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8, rated HIGH. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-3156?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from sudo_project. Update sudo to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-3156?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2021-3156 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
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Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
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