CVE-2021-22204

Exploitation

Exploited in the wild. Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-17. Federal remediation due 2021-12-01.

SSVC decision

• ExploitationactiveCISA reports credible evidence of active exploitation.
• AutomatablenoAt least one step from reconnaissance to exploitation cannot be reliably automated.
• Technical ImpactpartialSuccessful exploitation gives limited control of the vulnerable component.

CISA publishes the decision points, not a final SSVC decision. The decision also depends on mission and well-being impact, which is a property of your deployment rather than of the vulnerability.

EPSS probability

99.98% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.

EPSS percentile

Ranks above 100.0% of scored records. A rank, not a probability.

NVD base score

7.8 (CVSS v3.x), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.

NVD CVSS vector

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

NVD analysis status

Analyzed. NVD last modified this record on 2026-06-17.

Red Hat severity

No Red Hat rating. Red Hat rates the CVEs that affect its products.

Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.

Published

2021-04-23 17:22Z5 YR AGO

Last updated

2025-10-21 23:25Z10 MO AGO

Reserved

2021-01-05

Assigning CNA

GitLab

Record state

PUBLISHED

Severity

Medium (CVSS 6.8)

CNA CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L

Weaknesses

• CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')Base

Data version

5.1

Document digest

4a73d0d4c8c264fe1247a193b5f8e593689396bdac346f0b087ee0730253d40e

• github.comhttps://github.com/exiftool/exiftool/commit/cf0f4e7dcd024ca99615bfd1102a841a25dde031#diff-fa0d652d10dbcd246e6b1df16c1e992931d3bb717a7e36157596b76bdadb3800x_refsource_MISC
• hackerone.comhttps://hackerone.com/reports/1154542x_refsource_MISC
• gitlab.comhttps://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22204.jsonx_refsource_CONFIRM
• www.debian.orgDSA-4910https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4910vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
• lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2021-de850ed71ehttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/U4RF6PJCJ6NQOVJJJF6HN6BORUQVIXY6/vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
• lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2021-e3d8833d36https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DDKDLJLBTBBR66OOPXSXCG2PQRM5KCZL/vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
• lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2021-88d24aa32bhttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/F6UOBPU3LSHAPRRJNISNVXZ5DSUIALLV/vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORA
• www.openwall.com[oss-security] 20210509 [CVE-2021-22204] ExifTool - Arbitrary code execution in the DjVu module when parsing a malicious imagehttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/05/09/1mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
• www.openwall.com[oss-security] 20210510 Re: [CVE-2021-22204] ExifTool - Arbitrary code execution in the DjVu module when parsing a malicious imagehttp://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/05/10/5mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
• packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162558/ExifTool-DjVu-ANT-Perl-Injection.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• lists.debian.org[debian-lts-announce] 20210516 [SECURITY] [DLA 2663-1] libimage-exiftool-perl security updatehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/05/msg00018.htmlmailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
• packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164768/GitLab-Unauthenticated-Remote-ExifTool-Command-Injection.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164994/GitLab-13.10.2-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167038/ExifTool-12.23-Arbitrary-Code-Execution.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• www.cisa.govhttps://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-22204government-resource