Description
Sudo before 1.9.5p2 contains an off-by-one error that can result in a heap-based buffer overflow, which allows privilege escalation to root via "sudoedit -s" and a command-line argument that ends with a single backslash character.
Published: 2021-01-26
Score: 7.8 High
EPSS: 92.3% High
KEV: Yes
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

No analysis available yet.

Remediation

No remediation available yet.

Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-2534-1 sudo security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-4839-1 sudo security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-4705-1 Sudo vulnerabilities
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-4705-2 Sudo vulnerability
References
Link Providers
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161160/Sudo-Heap-Based-Buffer-Overflow.html cve-icon cve-icon
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161230/Sudo-Buffer-Overflow-Privilege-Escalation.html cve-icon cve-icon
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161270/Sudo-1.9.5p1-Buffer-Overflow-Privilege-Escalation.html cve-icon cve-icon
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161293/Sudo-1.8.31p2-1.9.5p1-Buffer-Overflow.html cve-icon cve-icon
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/176932/glibc-syslog-Heap-Based-Buffer-Overflow.html cve-icon cve-icon
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2021/Feb/42 cve-icon cve-icon
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2021/Jan/79 cve-icon cve-icon
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2024/Feb/3 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/01/26/3 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/01/27/1 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/01/27/2 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/02/15/1 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/09/14/2 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/01/30/6 cve-icon cve-icon
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/01/30/8 cve-icon cve-icon
https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10348 cve-icon cve-icon
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/01/msg00022.html cve-icon cve-icon
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CALA5FTXIQBRRYUA2ZQNJXB6OQMAXEII/ cve-icon cve-icon
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/LHXK6ICO5AYLGFK2TAX5MZKUXTUKWOJY/ cve-icon cve-icon
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3156 cve-icon
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202101-33 cve-icon cve-icon
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210128-0001/ cve-icon cve-icon
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210128-0002/ cve-icon cve-icon
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT212177 cve-icon cve-icon
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sudo-privesc-jan2021-qnYQfcM cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.beyondtrust.com/blog/entry/security-advisory-privilege-management-for-unix-linux-pmul-basic-and-privilege-management-for-mac-pmm-affected-by-sudo-vulnerability cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog cve-icon
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-3156 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3156 cve-icon
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4839 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/794544 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/01/26/3 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.qualys.com/2021/01/26/cve-2021-3156/baron-samedit-heap-based-overflow-sudo.txt cve-icon
https://www.sudo.ws/alerts/unescape_overflow.html cve-icon
https://www.sudo.ws/stable.html#1.9.5p2 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_21_02 cve-icon cve-icon
https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/sudoedit-pwned-cve-2021-3156 cve-icon cve-icon
History

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:15:00 +0000


Tue, 21 Oct 2025 20:30:00 +0000


Tue, 21 Oct 2025 19:30:00 +0000


Wed, 16 Jul 2025 13:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics epss

{'score': 0.92263}

epss

{'score': 0.92441}


Mon, 03 Feb 2025 17:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics kev

{'dateAdded': '2022-04-06'}

ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'active', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 14 Jan 2025 19:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:synology:diskstation_manager:6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:synology:diskstation_manager:6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 16:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

Wed, 14 Aug 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

Subscriptions

Beyondtrust Privilege Management For Mac Privilege Management For Unix\/linux
Debian Debian Linux
Fedoraproject Fedora
Mcafee Web Gateway
Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager Cloud Backup Hci Management Node Oncommand Unified Manager Core Package Ontap Select Deploy Administration Utility Ontap Tools Solidfire
Oracle Communications Performance Intelligence Center Micros Compact Workstation 3 Micros Compact Workstation 3 Firmware Micros Es400 Micros Es400 Firmware Micros Kitchen Display System Micros Kitchen Display System Firmware Micros Workstation 5a Micros Workstation 5a Firmware Micros Workstation 6 Micros Workstation 6 Firmware Tekelec Platform Distribution
Redhat Enterprise Linux Rhel Aus Rhel E4s Rhel Els Rhel Eus Rhel Tus Rhev Hypervisor
Sudo Project Sudo
Synology Diskstation Manager Diskstation Manager Unified Controller Skynas Skynas Firmware Vs960hd Vs960hd Firmware
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: mitre

Published:

Updated: 2025-10-21T23:35:29.600Z

Reserved: 2021-01-15T00:00:00.000Z

Link: CVE-2021-3156

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2024-08-03T16:45:51.408Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Analyzed

Published: 2021-01-26T21:15:12.987

Modified: 2025-11-10T14:41:45.053

Link: CVE-2021-3156

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2021-01-26T18:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2021-3156 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses