# CVE-2021-38435: RTI Connext DDS Professional and Connext DDS Secure Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size

> Incorrect buffer size calculation in RTI Connext DDS allows attackers to trigger buffer overflows, potentially leading to code execution or denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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:** 5 May 2022
- **Updated:** 16 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wvww-www9-c7jj

## What is CVE-2021-38435?

CVE-2021-38435 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in RTI Connext DDS Professional, published on 5 May 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

RTI Connext DDS Professional and Connext DDS Secure Versions 4.2x to 6.1.0 not correctly calculate the size when allocating the buffer, which may result in a buffer overflow.

Weakness: CWE-131 (Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-38435?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Rti Connext Professional, Rti Connext Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-38435?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-38435 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-38435 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-38435 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in RTI Connext DDS Professional

- [CVE-2026-2467](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-2467/): Memory corruption in Connext Professional (critical 9.2)
- [CVE-2026-3894](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-3894/): Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in RTI Connext Professional (Core Libraries) allows Overread Buffers. (critical 9.2)
- [CVE-2024-52057](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-52057/): SQL injection in Connext Professional (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-7300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-7300/): Memory corruption in Connext Professional (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-14543](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-14543/): XML external entity in Connext Professional (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-38435 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-38435 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in RTI Connext DDS Professional, published on 5 May 2022. 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-2021-38435 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: RTI Connext DDS Professional. 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-2021-38435/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38435/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-38435
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38435
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-38435

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38435/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.