Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2021-39252
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 · uneditedA crafted NTFS image can cause an out-of-bounds read in ntfs_ie_lookup in NTFS-3G < 2021.8.22.
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 confidenceNTFS-3G versions prior to 2021.8.22 contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the ntfs_ie_lookup function when parsing specially crafted NTFS images. A malicious NTFS filesystem image can trigger the vulnerability, potentially allowing an attacker to read sensitive memory contents beyond allocated buffers.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0
FedoraOperating system
= 33= 35< 2021.8.22CVSS 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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Check if NTFS-3G is installedRun `ntfs-3g --version` or check your package manager: `dpkg -l | grep ntfs-3g` (Debian/Ubuntu) or `rpm -qa | grep ntfs-3g` (Fedora/RHEL)Affected if NTFS-3G is not present on the system, then this CVE does not apply
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Identify the installed NTFS-3G versionRun `ntfs-3g --version` and capture the version number from the output (format typically shows as like 2021.x.x)Affected if The version shown is prior to 2021.8.22 (for example, 2021.1.15 or 2020.x.x)
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Verify package version from system package databaseOn Debian/Ubuntu run `dpkg -s ntfs-3g` and check the Version field; on Fedora run `rpm -qi ntfs-3g` and check the Version-Release fieldsAffected if The package version is less than 2021.8.22
If NTFS-3G is installed and its version is earlier than 2021.8.22, your environment is vulnerable when mounting untrusted or unknown NTFS images.
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.
dbcve · scoped2021.8.22
Upgrade NTFS-3G to version 2021.8.22 or later. Until patched, avoid mounting untrusted or unknown NTFS images from untrusted sources.
NTFS-3G 2021.8.22 or later
- Identify the current ntfs-3g package version using 'ntfs-3g --version' or your package manager
- For Debian: Run 'apt-get update && apt-get install ntfs-3g' to upgrade to the fixed version
- For Fedora: Run 'dnf update ntfs-3g' to upgrade to the fixed version
- Verify the installed version is 2021.8.22 or later using 'ntfs-3g --version'
- If using a custom-compiled version, download and install NTFS-3G version 2021.8.22 or later from the official source
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-39252 — 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-2021-39252 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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