CVE-2021-41614
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in the controller unit of the OpenRISC mor1kx processor. The read/write access permissions to the Exception Program Counter Register (EPCR) are not implemented correctly. User programs from an unauthorized privilege level can make read/write accesses to EPCR.
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 confidenceThe mor1kx OpenRISC processor's Exception Program Counter Register (EPCR) lacks proper privilege-level access controls. User-mode programs running at unauthorized privilege levels can read from and write to the EPCR, which should be restricted to privileged/ supervisor mode only. This allows potential privilege escalation by manipulating exception return addresses.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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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Confirm mor1kx processor usageIdentify if the OpenRISC mor1kx processor is being used in your environment. This may be documented in hardware specifications, FPGA bitstreams, or firmware/SoC documentation.Affected if mor1kx OpenRISC processor is present in the system
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Check RTL for EPCR privilege controlsInspect the mor1kx processor RTL source code (typically in Verilog or VHDL) for the EPCR register implementation. Look for privilege-level checks (e.g., privilege mode flags, MMU status checks) before allowing read or write operations to the EPCR register.Affected if No privilege-level checks are present in the EPCR read/write logic, or checks are missing entirely
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Verify supervisor mode requirement for EPCR accessExamine the hardware design or bitstream to confirm that EPCR read/write operations are only permitted when the processor is in supervisor/kernel privilege mode, not from user mode.Affected if EPCR can be accessed from user mode or unprivileged states in the current bitstream or design
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Test EPCR accessibility from user-spaceIf running software on the mor1kx, attempt to read from and write to the EPCR register while executing in user mode (privilege level 0). This may require examining CPU registers or using privileged instruction tests.Affected if User-mode code can successfully read or modify the EPCR register contents
If the mor1kx OpenRISC processor is in use and the EPCR register lacks or fails to enforce privilege-level access controls, allowing user-mode code to read or write to it, the environment is affected by CVE-2021-41614.
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 dataFix the EPCR access control logic in the processor's RTL to enforce privilege-level checks; only allow reads/writes from privileged (supervisor/kernel) modes. Regenerate the hardware bitstream after the fix.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-41614 — 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-2021-41614 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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