Is CVE-2021-45960 actively exploited?

CVE-2021-45960 has no public evidence of in-the-wild exploitation as of 2025-05-05.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-45960?

CVE-2021-45960 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH severity). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

How do I patch CVE-2021-45960?

Patch guidance is available from libexpat project security advisories. CVEDatabase generates AI-assisted remediation guidance on demand for CVE-2021-45960.

Fix CVE-2021-45960 - HIGH libexpat project libexpat

Q: Which products are affected by CVE-2021-45960?

12 products: libexpat project libexpat, tenable nessus, tenable nessus, debian debian linux, debian debian linux, and 7 more.

Description

In Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.3, a left shift by 29 (or more) places in the storeAtts function in xmlparse.c can lead to realloc misbehavior (e.g., allocating too few bytes, or only freeing memory).

CVSS Metrics

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector: network
Complexity: low
Privileges: low
User Action: none
Scope: unchanged
Confidentiality: high
Integrity: high
Availability: high
Weaknesses: CWE-682 CWE-682

Metadata

Primary Vendor: LIBEXPAT_PROJECT
Published: 1/1/2022
Last Modified: 5/5/2025
Source: NIST NVD
Note: Verify all details with official vendor sources before applying patches.

Affected Products

libexpat_project : libexpattenable : nessustenable : nessusdebian : debian_linuxdebian : debian_linuxsiemens : sinema_remote_connect_servernetapp : active_iq_unified_managernetapp : hci_baseboard_management_controllernetapp : hci_baseboard_management_controllernetapp : hci_baseboard_management_controllernetapp : oncommand_workflow_automationnetapp : solidfire_\&_hci_management_node

Remediation Guidance

Executive Summary

Cite this page

CVE-2021-45960. CVEDatabase.com. Retrieved 1 May 2026. https://cvedatabase.com/cve/CVE-2021-45960

View on NIST NVD

CVE-2021-45960 vulnerability