# CVE-2021-41617: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Attackers can escalate privileges via helper programs in OpenSSH when specific non-default configurations are used.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Sep 2021
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2021-41617, ALSA-2022:2013, CLSA-2021-1639681866, CLSA-2022-1649695840, CLSA-2022-1649695900, CLSA-2023-1688678532, DEBIAN-CVE-2021-41617, GHSA-mxh4-p4w6-g844, JLSEC-2026-65, MGASA-2021-0561, RHSA-2021:4782, RHSA-2022:2013, RLSA-2022:2013, SUSE-SU-2021:14847-1, SUSE-SU-2021:14870-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3875-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3887-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3947-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3950-1, SUSE-SU-2021:3951-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0805-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-41617, USN-5666-1, openSUSE-SU-2021:3950-1

## What is CVE-2021-41617?

CVE-2021-41617 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 26 Sep 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

sshd in OpenSSH 6.2 through 8.x before 8.8, when certain non-default configurations are used, allows privilege escalation because supplemental groups are not initialized as expected. Helper programs for AuthorizedKeysCommand and AuthorizedPrincipalsCommand may run with privileges associated with group memberships of the sshd process, if the configuration specifies running the command as a different user.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-41617?

It affects 12 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `openssh` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `openssh-askpass` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `openssh-cavs` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `openssh-clients` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `openssh-keycat` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `openssh-ldap` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `openssh-server` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 8.0p1-13.el8 |
| `pam_ssh_agent_auth` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 0.10.3-7.13.el8 |
| `openssh` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-askpass` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-cavs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-clients` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-keycat` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-ldap` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-server` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-server-sysvinit` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `pam_ssh_agent_auth` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:0.10.3-2.22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-askpass` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-cavs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-ldap` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-server-sysvinit` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `pam_ssh_agent_auth` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::computenode | All versions | 0:0.10.3-2.22.el7_9 |
| `openssh` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-askpass` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-cavs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-clients` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-keycat` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-ldap` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-server` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-server-sysvinit` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `pam_ssh_agent_auth` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:0.10.3-2.22.el7_9 |
| `openssh` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-askpass` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-cavs` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-clients` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |
| `openssh-keycat` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:7.4p1-22.el7_9 |

Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager, Netapp Aff 500f Firmware, Netapp Aff A250 Firmware, Netapp Clustered Data Ontap, Netapp Hci Management Node, Netapp Ontap Select Deploy Administration Utility, Netapp Solidfire, OpenSSH, Oracle Http Server, Oracle Zfs Storage Appliance Kit, Starwindsoftware Starwind Virtual San.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-41617?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2021-41617 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41617 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- https://github.com/AdnanApriliyansyahh/CVE-2021-41617 (github_poc): https://github.com/AdnanApriliyansyahh/CVE-2021-41617

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-41617 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-41617 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 26 Sep 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-2021-41617 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. 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-2021-41617/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41617/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-41617
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41617
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-41617

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41617/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.