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What is CVE-2021-4034?A high-severity flaw criminals are using now.

High severityKnown exploited30 affected products
The short answer

CVE-2021-4034 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.8) in Polkit from Polkit Project, published on 28 January 2022. It is on the list of flaws known to be exploited, so criminals are already using it. The latest forecast puts its chance of use in the next 30 days at 95%. If you run an affected version, patch it first.

Check if it affects you →How to fix it

Published 28 January 2022. Record last updated 6 November 2025. We keep this page's data up to date.

What it does

What is CVE-2021-4034? In plain terms.

An attacker has to be already on the device with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything. If it works, the attacker can read data, change data and take it offline.

The official description

A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid tool designed to allow unprivileged users to run commands as privileged users according predefined policies. The current version of pkexec doesn't handle the calling parameters count correctly and ends trying to execute environment variables as commands. An attacker can leverage this by crafting environment variables in such a way it'll induce pkexec to execute arbitrary code. When successfully executed the attack can cause a local privilege escalation given unprivileged users administrative rights on the target machine.

What kind of flaw is it?

  • CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read
  • CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write
CVSS 3.1 scoreHigh · 7.8

How an attack on it works

Read straight from its severity rating, translated out of the shorthand.

  • Where an attacker can beAlready on the device
  • How hard it is to pull offEasy: no special conditions
  • Login needed firstAn ordinary user account
  • Does someone have to clickNo, nobody has to do anything
  • What an attacker getsCan read data, change data and take it offline

Severity vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation

Is CVE-2021-4034 being exploited? Yes.

Attackers are already using it. It is on the government list of flaws known to be exploited, and the latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 95%.

Known to be exploitedYesOn the government list of exploited flaws
Chance of use in the next 30 days95%Its EPSS score, from the latest forecast

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Record last updated
How Precursor Intelligence ranks it
80out of 100High

CVE-2021-4034 scores 80. Action: Emergency patch.

We keep the score of every published flaw up to date as the evidence changes. Four things go into the score, and evidence that criminals are actually using it counts most. In order:

  • Evidence it is being exploitedBiggest factor
  • How severe it isStrong factor
  • How widely exposed it isSmaller factor
  • Threat activity around itSmaller factor

85 and above is Critical. Anything confirmed as exploited is always marked for an emergency patch, whatever its score.

When CVE-2021-4034 matches software you track, it lands in your list with its score and the reasons behind it.

See your own ranked list →
Affected products

Who is affected by CVE-2021-4034? 30 products.

The published record lists 30 products from 7 vendors. Versions are shown as published: "before 121" means every version up to, but not including, 121. If you run one of these, check your version, then go to the fix below.

Remediation

How do I fix CVE-2021-4034? Four steps.

  1. Check whether you run itCompare your versions with the affected products above. Not sure what you run? Precursor Intelligence can work it out from your public website, or you can pick it from a list.
  2. Apply the vendor’s fixInstall the update named in the vendor’s advisory. We’ve put the advisories and patch notes first in the list.
  3. If you can’t patch todayFollow any mitigation the vendor publishes, and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet until the update is in.
  4. Check it wasn’t used before you patchedBecause criminals are already using this flaw, look for signs of a break-in on affected systems using the vendor’s guidance.

References

13 links
Precursor Intelligence

Does CVE-2021-4034 affect you? We'll keep checking.

Looking flaws up one at a time doesn't scale. Tell us what you run once, and we tell you which flaws matter to you, in what order, and keep watching for new ones.

  1. Tell us what you runPick your software from a list, or let us work it out from your website.
  2. We match it to every flawOver 400,000 published flaws, checked against your list.
  3. Ranked by real-world riskA 0 to 100 score, led by evidence criminals are using it.
  4. Told as soon as we knowAn alert by email, in the app or by webhook to your own tools.
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CVE-2021-4034 is a high-severity flaw in Polkit from Polkit Project, published on 28 January 2022. An attacker has to be already on the device with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything. If it works, the attacker can read data, change data and take it offline.

It scores 7.8 out of 10 on the CVSS severity scale, which is high. Our risk score for CVE-2021-4034 is 80 out of 100, which is High. Its action is "Emergency patch". Attackers are using this flaw today. If you run an affected version, it goes to the top of your list.

Attackers are already using it. It is on the government list of flaws known to be exploited, and the latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 95%.

For Polkit from Polkit Project: before 121. The record lists 30 products in all, each with its versions, under "Who is affected" on this page.

Install the update the vendor names in its advisory, linked first under "How do I fix" on this page. If you can't patch today, follow the vendor's mitigation and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet. Because criminals are already using it, also check affected systems for signs of a break-in.

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