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Wasm3Application · Wasm3 Project

CVE-2021-38592

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Wasm3 0.5.0 has a heap-based buffer overflow in op_Const64 (called from EvaluateExpression and m3_LoadModule).

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

Wasm3 0.5.0 contains a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the op_Const64 function, which is invoked by EvaluateExpression and m3_LoadModule. This memory corruption issue could potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service when processing malicious WebAssembly modules.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Wasm3 if available. As an interim measure, avoid processing untrusted or potentially malicious WebAssembly modules with the affected version until a fix can be applied.

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
Wasm3Application
Affected:= 0.5.0

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
None
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Identify if Wasm3 is installed
    Check for the wasm3 binary or library file on the system. Common locations include /usr/bin/wasm3, /usr/local/bin/wasm3, or as a shared library (libwasm3.so). Use commands like 'which wasm3' or search for wasm3 files.
    Affected if Wasm3 is found on the system
  2. Determine the installed Wasm3 version
    Run 'wasm3 --version' or check the library version if used as a dependency. Compare the version number to the affected version 0.5.0.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 0.5.0
  3. Verify if the application loads external WebAssembly modules
    Review application code or configuration to determine if m3_LoadModule or EvaluateExpression functions are used to process WebAssembly modules from external or untrusted sources.
    Affected if The application uses m3_LoadModule or EvaluateExpression to process untrusted WebAssembly modules

A user is affected if Wasm3 version 0.5.0 is installed and the application uses it to process external WebAssembly modules.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Wasm3 if available. As an interim measure, avoid processing untrusted or potentially malicious WebAssembly modules with the affected version until a fix can be applied.

Fix this in Wasm3 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,280
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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-2021-38592 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