CVE-2021-36924
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 · uneditedRtsUpx.sys in Realtek RtsUpx USB Utility Driver for Camera/Hub/Audio through 1.14.0.0 allows local low-privileged users to achieve a pool overflow (leading to Escalation of Privileges, Denial of Service, and Code Execution) via a crafted Device IO Control packet to a device.
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 · high confidenceThe RtsUpx.sys driver for Realtek USB devices (Camera/Hub/Audio) versions up to 1.14.0.0 contains a pool buffer overflow vulnerability. Local low-privileged users can trigger this by sending a specially crafted Device IO Control packet to the driver, potentially achieving privilege escalation to kernel level, denial of service, or arbitrary code execution.
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<= 1.14.0.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the RtsUpx.sys driver file on the systemSearch for RtsUpx.sys in system driver directories: %SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\ and %SystemRoot%\System32\. Use 'dir /s C:\RtsUpx.sys' or Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Filter RtsUpx.sys -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinueAffected if The driver file exists on the system, indicating the driver may be installed
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Retrieve the installed version of RtsUpx.sysRight-click the driver file, select Properties, then view the Details tab for File Version. Alternatively, use PowerShell: (Get-Item 'C:\Windows\System32\drivers\RtsUpx.sys').VersionInfo.FileVersionAffected if The driver file exists but version cannot be determined or is at or below 1.14.0.0
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Check if the RtsUpx driver is currently loaded in the systemOpen Command Prompt as Administrator and run 'sc query RtsUpx' or use PowerShell 'Get-Service -Name RtsUpx*' to check driver service statusAffected if The driver service exists and is in Running or Stopped state, meaning the driver is installed and potentially active
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Compare the installed version against the affected rangeIf the driver version is found (e.g., 1.14.0.0 or lower), it falls within the vulnerable range. Versions greater than 1.14.0.0 indicate the patch has been appliedAffected if The installed version is 1.14.0.0 or any version lower than 1.14.0.0
A user is affected if the RtsUpx.sys driver is installed on their system with a version of 1.14.0.0 or lower.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate the Realtek RtsUpx USB driver to a patched version (1.14.0.0 or later). If a patched driver is unavailable, consider restricting access to the affected USB devices or temporarily disabling the driver until an update is available.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-36924 — 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-2021-36924 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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- 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
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