CVE-2021-42694

Public Exploit

Description

An issue was discovered in the character definitions of the Unicode Specification through 14.0. The specification allows an adversary to produce source code identifiers such as function names using homoglyphs that render visually identical to a target identifier. Adversaries can leverage this to inject code via adversarial identifier definitions in upstream software dependencies invoked deceptively in downstream software. NOTE: the Unicode Consortium offers the following alternative approach to presenting this concern. An issue is noted in the nature of international text that can affect applications that implement support for The Unicode Standard (all versions). Unless mitigated, an adversary could produce source code identifiers using homoglyph characters that render visually identical to but are distinct from a target identifier. In this way, an adversary could inject adversarial identifier definitions in upstream software that are not detected by human reviewers and are invoked deceptively in downstream software. The Unicode Consortium has documented this class of security vulnerability in its document, Unicode Technical Report #36, Unicode Security Considerations. The Unicode Consortium also provides guidance on mitigations for this class of issues in Unicode Technical Standard #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms.

Category

8.3
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 12.47% Top 10%
Vendor Advisory gentoo.org Vendor Advisory unicode.org Vendor Advisory unicode.org Vendor Advisory unicode.org
Affected: n/a n/a
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Link Tags
http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode14.0.0/ release notes vendor advisory
https://trojansource.codes third party advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/11/01/1 third party advisory mailing list
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2021/11/01/6 third party advisory mailing list
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/999008 third party advisory us government resource
https://www.scyon.nl/post/trojans-in-your-source-code third party advisory exploit
https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr36/ technical description vendor advisory
https://www.unicode.org/reports/tr39/ technical description vendor advisory
https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/1007.html third party advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202210-09 third party advisory vendor advisory

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2021-42694?
CVE-2021-42694 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2021-42694?
To fix CVE-2021-42694, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2021-42694 being actively exploited in the wild?
It is possible that CVE-2021-42694 is being exploited or will be exploited in a near future based on public information. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~12% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
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