# CVE-2021-45464: Memory corruption in n/a

> A guest OS user can execute arbitrary code on the host via an out-of-bounds write in kvmtool, requiring a patch to mitigate.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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:** 15 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 6 Feb 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-42pc-9g8v-prfm, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-45464

## What is CVE-2021-45464?

CVE-2021-45464 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

kvmtool through 39181fc allows an out-of-bounds write, related to virtio/balloon.c and virtio/pci.c. This allows a guest OS user to execute arbitrary code on the host machine.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-45464?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Kvmtool Project Kvmtool.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-45464?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-45464 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-45464 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-45464 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-45464 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in n/a, published on 15 Apr 2023. 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-2021-45464 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2021-45464/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45464/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-45464
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-45464
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-45464

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-45464/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.