# CVE-2021-41094: Mandatory encryption at rest can be bypassed (UI) in Wire app

> Attackers can bypass mandatory encryption at rest in Wire iOS by disabling the device passcode, exposing stored data without user indication.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h4m7-pr8h-j7rf

## What is CVE-2021-41094?

CVE-2021-41094 is a medium-severity vulnerability in wireapp wire-ios, published on 4 Oct 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

Wire is an open source secure messenger. Users of Wire by Bund may bypass the mandatory encryption at rest feature by simply disabling their device passcode. Upon launching, the app will attempt to enable encryption at rest by generating encryption keys via the Secure Enclave, however it will fail silently if no device passcode is set. The user has no indication that encryption at rest is not active since the feature is hidden to them. This issue has been resolved in version 3.70

Weakness: CWE-668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-41094?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wire Wire.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-41094?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-41094 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-41094 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41094 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in wireapp wire-ios

- [CVE-2020-27853](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27853/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-32665](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32665/): Verified groups not reliable (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-15258](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15258/): Insecure use of shell.openExternal in Wire (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2018-8909](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-8909/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-41093](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41093/): Account takeover when having only access to a user's short lived token (high 7.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-41094 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-41094 is a medium-severity vulnerability in wireapp wire-ios, published on 4 Oct 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41094 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: wireapp wire-ios. 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-2021-41094/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41094/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-41094
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41094
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-41094

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41094/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.