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NVD / CVE Program· CNA redhat

CVE-2021-20296: A flaw was found in OpenEXR in versions before 3.0.0-beta.

MediumCVSS 5.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.7% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 78.1% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: openexr (Alpine:v3.15) 2.5.4-r0; openexr (Debian:10) 2.2.1-4.1+deb10u2; openexr (Debian:12) 2.5.4-1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to openexr (Alpine:v3.15) 2.5.4-r0; openexr (Debian:10) 2.2.1-4.1+deb10u2; openexr (Debian:12) 2.5.4-1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A flaw was found in OpenEXR in versions before 3.0.0-beta. A crafted input file supplied by an attacker, that is processed by the Dwa decompression functionality of OpenEXR's IlmImf library, could cause a NULL pointer dereference. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

Published
Apr 1, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.7% · 78th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 1.7%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
openexropenexr
debiandebian linux

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (redhat). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • n/a OpenEXR

    • OpenEXR 3.0.0-betaaffected
Affected versions · NVD (4)

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • debian debian linux10.0
  • debian debian linux9.0
  • openexr openexrbefore 2.4.3
  • openexr openexr2.5.0 and later · before 2.5.4

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.15openexrfrom 2.5.0 · before 2.5.4-r02.5.4-r0
Debian:10openexrbefore 2.2.1-4.1+deb10u22.2.1-4.1+deb10u2
Debian:12openexrbefore 2.5.4-12.5.4-1
Debian:9openexrbefore 2.2.0-11+deb9u32.2.0-11+deb9u3
openSUSE:Leap 15.2openexrbefore 2.2.1-lp152.7.14.12.2.1-lp152.7.14.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP2openexrbefore 2.2.1-3.27.12.2.1-3.27.1

Same product

openexr: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2023-5841OpenEXR Heap Overflow in Scanline Deep Data Parsing
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2021-23169A heap-buffer overflow was found in the copyIntoFrameBuffer function of OpenEXR in versions before 3.0.1.
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2017-9115In OpenEXR 2.2.0, an invalid write of size 2 in the = operator function in half.h could cause the application to crash or execute arbitrary…
    36Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-3478Mar 31, 2021 · There's a flaw in OpenEXR's scanline input file functionality in versions before 3.0.0-beta.
    22Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-3479Mar 31, 2021 · There's a flaw in OpenEXR's Scanline API functionality in versions before 3.0.0-beta.
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-23215Jun 8, 2021 · An integer overflow leading to a heap-buffer overflow was found in the DwaCompressor of OpenEXR in versions before 3.0.1.
    22Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:openexr2.5.4-r0 · Alpine:v3.15Package registry (OSV)
debian:openexr2.5.4-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:openexr2.2.1-lp152.7.14.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.2Package registry (OSV)
suse:openexr2.2.1-3.27.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP2Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
low · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
Low

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-476 · NULL Pointer Dereference

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

References

Show all references (4 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records