CVE-2021-20315
6.1 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2021-20315 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting gnome gnome-shell. It was published on February 18, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
A locking protection bypass flaw was found in some versions of gnome-shell as shipped within CentOS Stream 8, when the "Application menu" or "Window list" GNOME extensions are enabled. This flaw allows a physical attacker who has access to a locked system to kill existing applications and start new ones as the locked user, even if the session is still locked.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from gnome. Update gnome-shell to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| gnome | gnome-shell | >= 0, < 3.32.2 | Affected |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2021-20315?
CVE-2021-20315 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting gnome gnome-shell. It was published on February 18, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2021-20315?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1, rated MEDIUM. It requires local or adjacent network access to exploit. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-20315?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from gnome. Update gnome-shell to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-20315?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2021-20315 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
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