CVE-2021-42521
7.5 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2021-42521 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting vtk vtk. It was published on August 25, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
There is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in VTK before 9.2.5, and it lies in IO/Infovis/vtkXMLTreeReader.cxx. The vendor didn't check the return value of libxml2 API 'xmlDocGetRootElement', and try to dereference it. It is unsafe as the return value can be NULL and that NULL pointer dereference may crash the application.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from vtk. Update vtk 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| vtk | vtk | 0 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2021-42521?
CVE-2021-42521 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting vtk vtk. It was published on August 25, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2021-42521?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-42521?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from vtk. Update vtk 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-2021-42521?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2021-42521 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.
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