# CVE-2021-32537: Realtek High definition audio Windows driver crashed

> Local attackers can crash the system by sending special strings to the Realtek High Definition Audio kernel driver.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Jul 2021
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-crfq-x56q-fh5h

## What is CVE-2021-32537?

CVE-2021-32537 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Realtek HDA driver, published on 7 Jul 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Realtek HAD contains a driver crashed vulnerability which allows local side attackers to send a special string to the kernel driver in a user’s mode. Due to unexpected commands, the kernel driver will cause the system crashed.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-32537?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Realtek Hda Driver.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-32537?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-32537 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-32537 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32537 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- PoC for CVE-2021-32537: an out-of-bounds memory access that leads to pool corruption in the Windows kernel. (github_poc): https://github.com/0vercl0k/CVE-2021-32537

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-32537 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-32537 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Realtek HDA driver, published on 7 Jul 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32537 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Realtek HDA driver. 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-2021-32537/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32537/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-32537
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32537
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-32537

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32537/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.