CVE-2021-3560

polkit

Published 16 Feb 2022 · updated 17 Jun 2026 · Analyzed

7.8 High · CVSS 3.1, NVD

Exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 12 May 2023, with a remediation deadline of 2 Jun 2023 for US federal agencies.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

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.

References

packetstormsecurity.com/files/172836/polkit-Authentication-Bypass.html · Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
packetstormsecurity.com/files/172846/Facebook-Fizz-Denial-Of-Service.html · Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1961710 · Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory
github.blog/2021-06-10-privilege-escalation-polkit-root-on-linux-with-bug/ · Exploit, Third Party Advisory
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-3560 · US Government Resource