CVE-2021-42521
Description
There is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in VTK before 9.2.5, and it lies in IO/Infovis/vtkXMLTreeReader.cxx. The vendor didn't check the return value of libxml2 API 'xmlDocGetRootElement', and try to dereference it. It is unsafe as the return value can be NULL and that NULL pointer dereference may crash the application.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
Mitigation details
CVE-2021-42521 NameCVE-2021-42521 DescriptionThere is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in VTK before 9.2.5, and it lies in IO/Infovis/vtkXMLTreeReader.cxx. The vendor didn't check the return value of libxml2 API 'xmlDocGetRootElement', and try to dereference it. It is unsafe as the return value can be NULL and that NULL pointer dereference may crash the application. SourceCVE (at NVD;…
CVE-2021-42521
| Name | CVE-2021-42521 |
| Description | There is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in VTK before 9.2.5, and it lies in IO/Infovis/vtkXMLTreeReader.cxx. The vendor didn't check the return value of libxml2 API 'xmlDocGetRootElement', and try to dereference it. It is unsafe as the return value can be NULL and that NULL pointer dereference may crash the application. |
| Source | CVE (at NVD; CERT, ENISA, LWN, oss-sec, fulldisc, Debian ELTS, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, SUSE bugzilla/CVE, GitHub advisories/code/issues, web search, more) |
| Debian Bugs | 1031877, 1034843, 1034844 |
Vulnerable and fixed packages
The table below lists information on source packages.
| Source Package | Release | Version | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| vtk6 (PTS) | bullseye | 6.3.0+dfsg2-8.1 | vulnerable |
| vtk7 (PTS) | bullseye | 7.1.1+dfsg2-8 | vulnerable |
| vtk9 (PTS) | bullseye | 9.0.1+dfsg1-8 | vulnerable |
| bookworm | 9.1.0+really9.1.0+dfsg2-5+deb12u1 | vulnerable | |
| trixie | 9.3.0+dfsg1-4 | fixed | |
| forky, sid | 9.5.2+dfsg4-5 | fixed |
The information below is based on the following data on fixed versions.
| Package | Type | Release | Fixed Version | Urgency | Origin | Debian Bugs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vtk6 | source | (unstable) | (unfixed) | 1034843 | ||
| vtk7 | source | (unstable) | (unfixed) | 1034844 | ||
| vtk9 | source | (unstable) | 9.1.0+really9.1.0+dfsg2-8 | 1031877 |
Notes
[bookworm] - vtk9 <ignored> (Minor issue)
[bullseye] - vtk9 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)
[bullseye] - vtk7 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)
[buster] - vtk7 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)
[bullseye] - vtk6 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)
[buster] - vtk6 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)
https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/issues/17818
Apply commands
[bookworm] - vtk9 <ignored> (Minor issue)[bullseye] - vtk9 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)[bullseye] - vtk7 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)[buster] - vtk7 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)[bullseye] - vtk6 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)[buster] - vtk6 <no-dsa> (Minor issue)https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/issues/17818OS impact
| OS | Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| debian | bullseye | affected | |
| debian | bookworm | affected | |
| debian | forky | fixed | 9.1.0+really9.1.0+dfsg2-8 |
| debian | sid | fixed | 9.1.0+really9.1.0+dfsg2-8 |
| debian | trixie | fixed | 9.1.0+really9.1.0+dfsg2-8 |
Package impact
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | vtk | <9.0.1 | 9.0.1 |
References
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-42521
- https://discourse.vtk.org/t/vtk-9-2-5-is-out/10549
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/vtk/PYSEC-2022-255.yaml
- https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk
- https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/issues/17818
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/PCTMSAAVP4BW2HTZLDWMGKZ2WEC5OFLK
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-xfhg-9pjg-xg7g
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-42521
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.