CVE-2021-38153

mediumpriority · track · 26EPSS 0.062 · 93 %ileDEEURUUS
grimoire priorityP3 · Track
Exploitable?
—
no known exploitation
Likely / severe?
6.20% (93rd) EPSS
CVSS 4.3 · medium
Is it mine?
108 products
Check your exposure
Who says so?
5 sources
cnnvd · enisa_euvd · fstec_bdu · osv

EPSS · scored 2026-10-22

Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.

01

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

5.9
010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode

v2.04.3mediumAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:Nprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 8.6 · impact 2.9
v3.15.9mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Nprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 2.2 · impact 3.6
v3.15.9mediumAV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Nsecondary · FSTEC (BDU) RU
v3.15.9mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:Nsecondary · OSV
v3.15.9mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:Hsecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)
02

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

CWE-203USprimaryCWE-203USCWE-203US
03

affected products (108)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

showing 20 of 108
04

advisories (5)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

  • WID-SEC-W-2022-0607Red Hat FUSE: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2022-07-07csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein entfernter, anonymer, authentisierter oder lokaler Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Red Hat FUSE ausnutzen, um vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen, beliebigen Code auszuführen, einen Denial of Service Zustand herbeizuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, Daten und Informationen zu manipulieren und seine Privilegien zu erweitern.

  • WID-SEC-W-2022-0725Apache Kafka: Schwachstelle ermöglicht PrivilegieneskalationDeutsch2021-09-21csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein entfernter Angreifer kann eine Schwachstelle in Apache Kafka ausnutzen, um seine Privilegien zu erhöhen.

  • GHSA-3j6g-hxx5-3q26Observable Discrepancy in Apache Kafka2021-09-23ghsa · osvUS

    Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.

  • BIT-kafka-2021-38153Timing Attack Vulnerability for Apache Kafka Connect and Clients2024-03-06vendor · osvUS

    Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.

  • CGA-6xhq-ggm7-4q2r2024-06-06vendor · osvUS
05

also known as (6)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

06

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

cnnvdenisa_euvdfstec_bduosvcert_bundNVDCVE.orgMITRE
published 2021-09-22modified 2026-06-17
08

references (56)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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