CVE-2021-3560
Red Hat Polkit Incorrect Authorization Vulnerability
- High 7.8
- Exploited: added to CISA KEV 12 May 2023
Description
It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the privileges of the requestor to the root user. This flaw could be used by an unprivileged local attacker to, for example, create a new local administrator. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
Key facts
- Published
- 16 Feb 2022
- Last changed
- 21 Oct 2025
- Assigned by
- redhat
- KEV added
- 12 May 2023
- KEV fix due
- 2 Jun 2023
- EPSS
- 21.768% likely to be exploited in the next 30 days, higher than 97.678% of CVEs (scores for 15 Nov 2026)
- SSVC (CISA)
- Exploitation: active; Automatable: no; Technical impact: total
Severity scores
Each score is shown as its source gave it. They are not averaged or merged.
- 7.8CVSS 3.1, Highfrom CISA (ADP container)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
What to do
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.CISA KEV required action
Historical context and remediation
This reference retains the original CVE publication date. A recent record update does not mean a new attack occurred.
No separately sourced impact summary is available on this page yet. Consult the description, version data and dated exploitation evidence.
Version statuses below come from the CNA. An “unaffected” version is not necessarily a currently supported release or proof of a patch date. EPSS is a dated risk estimate, not a count of historical attacks.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | polkit |
|
Timeline
- 16 Feb 2022 Published
- 12 May 2023 CVE-2021-3560 added to CISA KEV
- 12 May 2023 Added to the CISA KEV catalogue