CVE-2021-32628
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedRedis is an open source, in-memory database that persists on disk. An integer overflow bug in the ziplist data structure used by all versions of Redis can be exploited to corrupt the heap and potentially result with remote code execution. The vulnerability involves modifying the default ziplist configuration parameters (hash-max-ziplist-entries, hash-max-ziplist-value, zset-max-ziplist-entries or zset-max-ziplist-value) to a very large value, and then constructing specially crafted commands to create very large ziplists. The problem is fixed in Redis versions 6.2.6, 6.0.16, 5.0.14. An additional workaround to mitigate the problem without patching the redis-server executable is to prevent users from modifying the above configuration parameters. This can be done using ACL to restrict unprivileged users from using the CONFIG SET command.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisAn arithmetic operation produces a value too large for its type and wraps around to an unexpected — often tiny or negative — number. That miscalculated value then drives a memory allocation or a bounds check, opening the door to corruption. The fix is checked arithmetic and validating sizes before they're used.
General guidance for the integer overflow class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.14>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.16>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.6= 33= 34= 35= 10.0= 11.0all versionsall versions= 4.3= 4.4= 5.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped5.0.146.0.166.2.6
Redis 5.0.14 (for 5.0.x) | Redis 6.0.16 (for 6.0.x) | Redis 6.2.6 (for 6.2.x)
- 1. Identify your current Redis version using `redis-server --version` or `INFO server` command
- 2. For Redis 5.0.x: Upgrade to Redis 5.0.14 or later
- 3. For Redis 6.0.x: Upgrade to Redis 6.0.16 or later
- 4. For Redis 6.2.x: Upgrade to Redis 6.2.6 or later
- 5. After upgrade, verify the fix by running `redis-server --version` to confirm the installed version
- 6. Alternatively, as a configuration-only workaround to mitigate without patching: Use ACL to restrict unprivileged users from executing CONFIG SET command, specifically blocking changes to: hash-max-ziplist-entries, hash-max-ziplist-value, zset-max-ziplist-entries, and zset-max-ziplist-value
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-32628 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-32628 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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