# CVE-2021-3570: Memory corruption in linuxptp

> A missing length check in the ptp4l program allows remote attackers to cause information leaks, crashes, or potential code execution via crafted PTP messages.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 9 Jul 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3570, DLA-2723-1, DSA-4938-1, GHSA-rwc4-5qx3-qg4w, OESA-2021-1368, RHSA-2021:2657, RHSA-2021:2658, RHSA-2021:2659, RHSA-2021:2660, RLSA-2021:2660, SUSE-SU-2021:2443-1, SUSE-SU-2021:2472-1, SUSE-SU-2021:2545-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3202-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3570, USN-6097-1, openSUSE-SU-2021:1102-1, openSUSE-SU-2021:3202-1

## What is CVE-2021-3570?

CVE-2021-3570 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 9 Jul 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the ptp4l program of the linuxptp package. A missing length check when forwarding a PTP message between ports allows a remote attacker to cause an information leak, crash, or potentially remote code execution. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability. This flaw affects linuxptp versions before 3.1.1, before 2.0.1, before 1.9.3, before 1.8.1, before 1.7.1, before 1.6.1 and before 1.5.1.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3570?

It affects 7 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `linuxptp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:2.0-2.el7_9.1 |
| `linuxptp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:2.0-2.el7_9.1 |
| `linuxptp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:2.0-2.el7_9.1 |
| `linuxptp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:2.0-2.el7_9.1 |
| `linuxptp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:2.0-2.el7_9.1 |
| `linuxptp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:2.0-2.el7_9.1 |
| `linuxptp` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-5.el8_4.1 |
| `linuxptp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-5.el8_4.1 |
| `linuxptp-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-5.el8_4.1 |
| `linuxptp` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.1::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-4.el8_1.1 |
| `linuxptp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.1::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-4.el8_1.1 |
| `linuxptp-debugsource` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.1::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-4.el8_1.1 |
| `linuxptp` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.2::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-4.el8_2.1 |
| `linuxptp-debuginfo` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.2::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-4.el8_2.1 |
| `linuxptp-debugsource` | Red Hat:rhel_eus:8.2::appstream | All versions | 0:2.0-4.el8_2.1 |
| `linuxptp` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:2.0-5.el8_4.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Enterprise Storage 6 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-ESPOS | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP1-LTSS | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-ESPOS | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15-LTSS | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP2 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Server Applications 15 SP3 | All versions | 3.1.1-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP2-BCL | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-BCL | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3-LTSS | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4-LTSS | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP5 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-BCL | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1-LTSS | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server 15-LTSS | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP3 | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP4 | All versions | 1.4-15.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12 SP5 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP1 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Manager Proxy 4.0 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Manager Retail Branch Server 4.0 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |
| `linuxptp` | SUSE:Manager Server 4.0 | All versions | 1.8+git65.g303b08c-3.3.1 |

Products: Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Linuxptp Project Linuxptp, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Tus.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3570?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2021-3570 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3570 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3570 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3570 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 9 Jul 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3570 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2021-3570/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3570/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3570
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3570
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3570

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3570/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.