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TelegramApplication

CVE-2021-36769

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-07-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.8.8 / 7.8.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A reordering issue exists in Telegram before 7.8.1 for Android, Telegram before 7.8.3 for iOS, and Telegram Desktop before 2.8.8. An attacker can cause the server to receive messages in a different order than they were sent a client.

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 analysis · moderate confidence

A message reordering vulnerability in Telegram clients allows an attacker to manipulate message sequencing, causing the server to receive messages in a different order than they were sent by the client. This is a protocol-level flaw in how the client handles message ordering before transmission.

MitigationUpdate Telegram clients to version 7.8.1 or higher for Android, 7.8.3 or higher for iOS, or 2.8.8 or higher for Desktop to remediate the vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
TelegramApplication
Affected:< 7.8.1< 7.8.3
Telegram DesktopApplication
Affected:< 2.8.8

CVSS 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify your Telegram client type
    Determine whether you are using the Telegram Android app, iOS app, or Telegram Desktop application
    Affected if any Telegram client is in use - this vulnerability affects all three platform variants
  2. Check Telegram Android version
    On Android, go to Settings > Apps > Telegram and view the version information. The version number is displayed under 'Version'
    Affected if the installed version is lower than 7.8.1
  3. Check Telegram iOS version
    On iOS, open the Telegram app, go to Settings (gear icon) > Settings again, and view the version number displayed at the top
    Affected if the installed version is lower than 7.8.3
  4. Check Telegram Desktop version
    Open Telegram Desktop, click on the three-line menu > Settings > Advanced, or click on the three-line menu > Help > About, to view the version number
    Affected if the installed version is lower than 2.8.8

You are affected if you have any Telegram client (Android, iOS, or Desktop) with a version number below 7.8.1 (Android), 7.8.3 (iOS), or 2.8.8 (Desktop) respectively.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.8.8 / 7.8.1 / 7.8.3 or later
Fixed in 2.8.87.8.17.8.3
Interim mitigation

Update Telegram clients to version 7.8.1 or higher for Android, 7.8.3 or higher for iOS, or 2.8.8 or higher for Desktop to remediate the vulnerability.

Fix this in Telegram Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-36769 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data