# CVE-2021-22923: Information disclosure in https://github.com/curl/curl

> curl leaks user credentials to unintended servers when using the metalink feature, exposing sensitive authentication data to third parties.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2021-22923, AZL-6362, CLEANSTART-2026-SB23247, CURL-CVE-2021-22923, DEBIAN-CVE-2021-22923, GHSA-89qw-6g6w-269q, JLSEC-2026-1336

## What is CVE-2021-22923?

CVE-2021-22923 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 5 Aug 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

When curl is instructed to get content using the metalink feature, and a user name and password are used to download the metalink XML file, those same credentials are then subsequently passed on to each of the servers from which curl will download or try to download the contents from. Often contrary to the user's expectations and intentions and without telling the user it happened.

Weakness: CWE-522 (Insufficiently Protected Credentials), CWE-319 (Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-22923?

It affects 16 products.


Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Haxx Curl, Netapp Cloud Backup, Netapp Clustered Data Ontap, Netapp H300e Firmware, Netapp H300s Firmware, Netapp H410s Firmware, Netapp H500e Firmware, Netapp H500s Firmware, Netapp H700e Firmware, Netapp H700s Firmware, Netapp Hci Management Node, Netapp Solidfire, Oracle Mysql Server, Siemens Sinec Infrastructure Network Services, Splunk Universal Forwarder.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-22923?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2021-22923 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-22923 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-22923 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-22923 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 5 Aug 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-22923 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22923/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22923/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22923
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22923
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-22923

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22923/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.