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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.5

CVE-2021-3732 json

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's OverlayFS subsystem in the way the user mounts the TmpFS filesystem with OverlayFS.

published 2022-03-07 4 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-27009

cvss
5.5
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 29%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's OverlayFS subsystem in the way the user mounts the TmpFS filesystem with OverlayFS. This flaw allows a local user to gain access to hidden files that should not be accessible.

Patch / fix

  • linux linux_kernel 5.14
  • linux Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.14.6-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3732

  • linux Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-159.167
  • linux Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-89.100
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-1112.119
  • linux-aws Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1058.61
  • linux-gcp Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1056.60
  • linux-gke Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1054.57
  • linux-ibm Ubuntu 20.04 LTS 5.4.0-1006.7
  • linux-kvm Ubuntu 18.04 LTS 4.15.0-1100.102

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3732

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • kernel RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • perf RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • bpftool RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • kernel-core RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • kernel-tools RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • python3-perf RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • kernel-modules RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8
  • kernel-zfcpdump RHEL 8 4.18.0-348.el8

red hat advisories RHSA-2021:4356RHSA-2021:4140

  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 +1 more 4.12.14-95.83.2
  • kernel-source SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 +1 more 4.12.14-95.83.2
  • kernel-default SLES for SAP 12 SP4, SLES 12 SP4-LTSS, SLE Live Patching 12 SP4 +3 more 4.12.14-95.83.2
  • kernel-syms SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.78.1
  • kernel-source SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.78.1
  • kernel-default SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE Live Patching 15 +3 more 4.12.14-150.78.1
  • kernel-vanilla SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.78.1
  • kernel-obs-build SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS, SLE High Performance Computing 15-LTSS +1 more 4.12.14-150.78.2

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2021:3972-1SUSE-SU-2021:3969-1SUSE-SU-2021:3935-1SUSE-SU-2021:3929-1SUSE-SU-2021:3876-1SUSE-SU-2021:3415-1

  • kernel-default openSUSE Leap 15.3 4.12.14-197.102.2
  • kernel-vanilla openSUSE Leap 15.3 4.12.14-197.102.2
  • kernel-kvmsmall openSUSE Leap 15.3 4.12.14-197.102.2
  • kernel-zfcpdump openSUSE Leap 15.3 4.12.14-197.102.2
  • dtb-aarch64 openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-64kb openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-syms openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1
  • kernel-obs-qa openSUSE Leap 15.3 5.3.18-59.24.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2021:3876-1openSUSE-SU-2021:3205-1openSUSE-SU-2021:3179-1openSUSE-SU-2021:1271-1

  • linux-hardened Arch Linux 5.13.13.hardened1-1
  • linux Arch Linux 5.13.12.arch1-1
  • linux-zen Arch Linux 5.13.12.zen1-1
  • linux-lts Arch Linux 5.10.60-1

arch linux advisories AVG-2234AVG-2295AVG-2296AVG-2297

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2021-3732 updated cvss 3.3

kernel: overlayfs: Mounting overlayfs inside an unprivileged user namespace can reveal files

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 kernel Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 perf, kernel, python-perf, kernel-kdump, kernel-firmware, kernel-bootwrapper, +1 more
    affected: workaround, no fix planned “Out of support scope”
  • Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64 4.18.0-348.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64 4.18.0-348.el8, kernel-debuginfo-common-ppc64le 4.18.0-348.el8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) perf 4.18.0-348.el8, kernel 4.18.0-348.el8, bpftool 4.18.0-348.el8, kernel-core 4.18.0-348.el8, kernel-tools 4.18.0-348.el8, python3-perf 4.18.0-348.el8, +15 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:4356
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-debug-modules 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-modules-extra 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, +2 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux Real Time for NFV (v. 8) kernel-rt 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-kvm 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-core 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-modules 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-debug-kvm 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, kernel-rt-debug-core 4.18.0-348.rt7.130.el8, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:4140
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 perf, kernel, bpftool, kernel-rt, python-perf, kernel-kdump, +8 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 rv, perf, rtla, kernel, bpftool, libperf, +81 more
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

0.35% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 29% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.1 5.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
NVD 2.0 2.1 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

Affected products

  • n/a kernel

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Technology feeds

References

Sources

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.