CVE-2021-29221 Privilege escalation in Erlang/OTP
Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM or hijack accounts via unsafe filesystem permissions on Windows.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2021-29221?
CVE-2021-29221 is a high-severity vulnerability in Erlang/OTP, published on 9 Apr 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A local privilege escalation vulnerability was discovered in Erlang/OTP prior to version 23.2.3. By adding files to an existing installation's directory, a local attacker could hijack accounts of other users running Erlang programs or possibly coerce a service running with "erlsrv.exe" to execute arbitrary code as Local System. This can occur only under specific conditions on Windows with unsafe filesystem permissions.
Weakness: CWE-426
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-29221?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Erlang Erlang\/Otp.
How do I fix CVE-2021-29221?
No fix has been published for CVE-2021-29221 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2021-29221 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-29221 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Erlang/OTP
- CVE-2022-37026 Auth bypass in n/a
- CVE-2016-10253 Memory corruption in n/a
- CVE-2026-55953 TLS 1.2 and DTLS client accepts unoffered anonymous cipher suite, bypassing server authentication
- CVE-2026-49759 Stack buffer overflow in SCTP error cause parsing in inet_drv allows remote VM crash
- CVE-2026-58227 TLS/DTLS denial of service via unbounded recursion on cross-signed peer certificate chain
Sources
Also known as GHSA-gq7g-854q-935r.