# CVE-2021-3922: Race condition in IMController

> A local attacker can exploit a race condition in IMController to interact with a child process, potentially leading to privilege escalation or code execution.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 May 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-73f6-cmq6-69h8

## What is CVE-2021-3922?

CVE-2021-3922 is a high-severity vulnerability in Lenovo IMController, published on 18 May 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A race condition vulnerability was reported in IMController, a software component of Lenovo System Interface Foundation, prior to version 1.1.20.3 that could allow a local attacker to connect and interact with the IMController child process' named pipe.

Weakness: CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization), CWE-367 (Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3922?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Lenovo System Interface Foundation.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3922?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-3922 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-3922 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3922 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Lenovo IMController

- [CVE-2019-6186](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6186/): Privilege escalation in Lenovo System Interface Foundation (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2021-3969](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3969/): Race condition in IMController (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-6189](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-6189/): Other in Lenovo System Interface Foundation (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2016-8223](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-8223/): Privilege escalation in All ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation and Lenovo-branded systems preloaded with the Windows 10 operating system, or any system running Lenovo Companion, Lenovo Settings, or Lenovo ID. (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-8318](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8318/): Privilege escalation in LenovoSystemUpdatePlugin for Lenovo System Interface Foundation (high 7.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3922 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3922 is a high-severity vulnerability in Lenovo IMController, published on 18 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-2021-3922 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Lenovo IMController. 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-2021-3922/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3922/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3922
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3922
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3922

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3922/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.