CVE-2021-4034A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility.
Updated under an hour ago ()
Does this affect you?
It affects polkit_project polkit and 29 other products. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.
CISA lists it as known exploited since Jun 27, 2022; federal agencies had to remediate by Jul 18, 2022, and it is known to be used in ransomware. Treat that date as your deadline.
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A local privilege escalation vulnerability was found on polkit's pkexec utility. The pkexec application is a setuid tool designed to allow unprivileged users to run commands as privileged users according predefined policies. The current version of pkexec doesn't handle the calling parameters count correctly and ends trying to execute environment variables as commands. An attacker can leverage this by crafting environment variables in such a way it'll induce pkexec to execute arbitrary code. When successfully executed the attack can cause a local privilege escalation given unprivileged users administrative rights on the target machine.
- CVSS
- 7.8 HIGH (v3.1, CISA ADP)CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-787
- Known exploited
- Added to CISA KEV Jun 27, 2022; federal remediation due Jul 18, 2022; known ransomware useApply updates per vendor instructions.
- EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days)
- 94.92% (percentile 100)
- Assigned by
- redhat
- NVD analysis
- Analyzed
- Record last updated
- Aug 15, 2026
- First seen by InfoSec Signals
- Oct 9, 2026
Affected products
polkit_project polkit polkit_project:polkit | before 121 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_server_update_services_for_sap_solutions redhat:enterprise_linux_server_update_services_for_sap_solutions | 7.6; 7.7; 8.1; 8.2; 8.4 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux redhat:enterprise_linux | 8.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop | 7.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_eus redhat:enterprise_linux_eus | 8.2 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems redhat:enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems | 7.0; 8.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems_eus redhat:enterprise_linux_for_ibm_z_systems_eus | 8.2; 8.4 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_for_power_big_endian redhat:enterprise_linux_for_power_big_endian | 7.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian redhat:enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian | 7.0; 8.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian_eus redhat:enterprise_linux_for_power_little_endian_eus | 8.1; 8.2; 8.4 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_for_scientific_computing redhat:enterprise_linux_for_scientific_computing | 7.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_server redhat:enterprise_linux_server | 6.0; 7.0 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_server_aus redhat:enterprise_linux_server_aus | 7.3; 7.4; 7.6; 7.7; 8.2; 8.4 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_server_eus redhat:enterprise_linux_server_eus | 8.4 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_server_tus redhat:enterprise_linux_server_tus | 7.6; 7.7; 8.2; 8.4 | NVD |
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation | 7.0 | NVD |
canonical ubuntu_linux canonical:ubuntu_linux | 14.04; 16.04; 18.04; 20.04; 21.10 | NVD |
suse enterprise_storage suse:enterprise_storage | 7.0 | NVD |
suse linux_enterprise_high_performance_computing suse:linux_enterprise_high_performance_computing | 15.0 | NVD |
suse manager_proxy suse:manager_proxy | 4.1 | NVD |
suse manager_server suse:manager_server | 4.1 | NVD |
suse linux_enterprise_desktop suse:linux_enterprise_desktop | 15 | NVD |
suse linux_enterprise_server suse:linux_enterprise_server | 15; 15 | NVD |
suse linux_enterprise_workstation_extension suse:linux_enterprise_workstation_extension | 12 | NVD |
oracle http_server oracle:http_server | 12.2.1.3.0; 12.2.1.4.0 | NVD |
oracle zfs_storage_appliance_kit oracle:zfs_storage_appliance_kit | 8.8 | NVD |
siemens sinumerik_edge siemens:sinumerik_edge | before 3.3.0 | NVD |
siemens scalance_lpe9403_firmware siemens:scalance_lpe9403_firmware | before 2.0 | NVD |
starwindsoftware command_center starwindsoftware:command_center | 1.0 | NVD |
starwindsoftware starwind_virtual_san starwindsoftware:starwind_virtual_san | v8 | NVD |
References
- https://access.redhat.com/security/vulnerabilities/RHSB-2022-001mitigation, vendor-advisory
- https://www.qualys.com/2022/01/25/cve-2021-4034/pwnkit.txtexploit, mitigation, third-party-advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2025869issue-tracking, patch
- https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/polkit/polkit/-/commit/a2bf5c9c83b6ae46cbd5c779d3055bff81ded683patch
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.htmlpatch, third-party-advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166196/Polkit-pkexec-Local-Privilege-Escalation.htmlexploit, third-party-advisory, vdb-entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166200/Polkit-pkexec-Privilege-Escalation.htmlthird-party-advisory, vdb-entry
- https://www.suse.com/support/kb/doc/?id=000020564third-party-advisory
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-330556.pdfthird-party-advisory
- https://www.starwindsoftware.com/security/sw-20220818-0001/third-party-advisory
- https://www.secpod.com/blog/local-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-major-linux-distributions-cve-2021-4034/exploit, third-party-advisory
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/pwnkit-pkexec-lpe-cve-2021-4034exploit, third-party-advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-4034us-government-resource
The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry
The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.