CVE-2021-33500 json
PuTTY before 0.75 on Windows allows remote servers to cause a denial of service (Windows GUI hang) by telling the PuTTY window to change it…
published 2021-05-21 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-20201
- cvss
- 7.5
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 1.9%
- EPSS 1.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 79%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
PuTTY before 0.75 on Windows allows remote servers to cause a denial of service (Windows GUI hang) by telling the PuTTY window to change its title repeatedly at high speed, which results in many SetWindowTextA or SetWindowTextW calls. NOTE: the same attack methodology may affect some OS-level GUIs on Linux or other platforms for similar reasons.
Patch / fix
- putty putty 0.75
Exploit prediction
1.91% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 79% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
Exploits and checks
- docs.ssh-mitm.at https://docs.ssh-mitm.at/puttydos.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
- github.com https://github.com/ssh-mitm/ssh-mitm-plugins/blob/main/ssh_mitm_plugins/ssh/putty_dos.py referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AC:L/AV:N/A:H/C:N/I:N/PR:N/S:U/UI:N |
| CNA | 3.1 | 7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| NVD | 3.1 | 7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| NVD | 2.0 | 5.0 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P |
References
-
docs.ssh-mitm.at
/puttydos.html
exploit, third-party-advisory
-
github.com
/ssh-mitm/ssh-mitm-plugins/blob/main/ssh_mitm_plugins/ssh/putty_dos.py
exploit, third-party-advisory
-
chiark.greenend.org.uk
/~sgtatham/putty/changes.html
release-notes, third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2021-33500
- NVD CVE-2021-33500
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.