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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2021-39218: Out-of-bounds read/write and invalid free with `externref`s and GC safepoints in Wasmtime

MediumCVSS 6.3 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 25/100)

  • 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: 0.30% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: wasmtime (crates.io) 0.30.0; wasmtime (PyPI) 0.30.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to wasmtime (crates.io) 0.30.0; wasmtime (PyPI) 0.30.0 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

Wasmtime is an open source runtime for WebAssembly & WASI. In Wasmtime from version 0.26.0 and before version 0.30.0 is affected by a memory unsoundness vulnerability. There was an invalid free and out-of-bounds read and write bug when running Wasm that uses `externref`s in Wasmtime. To trigger this bug, Wasmtime needs to be running Wasm that uses `externref`s, the host creates non-null `externrefs`, Wasmtime performs a garbage collection (GC), and there has to be a Wasm frame on the stack that is at a GC safepoint where there are no live references at this safepoint, and there is a safepoint with live references earlier in this frame's function. Under this scenario, Wasmtime would incorrectly use the GC stack map for the safepoint from earlier in the function instead of the empty safepoint. This would result in Wasmtime treating arbitrary stack slots as `externref`s that needed to be rooted for GC. At the *next* GC, it would be determined that nothing was referencing these bogus `externref`s (because nothing could ever reference them, because they are not really `externref`s) and then Wasmtime would deallocate them and run `<ExternRef as Drop>::drop` on them. This results in a free of memory that is not necessarily on the heap (and shouldn't be freed at this moment even if it was), as well as potential out-of-bounds reads and writes. Even though support for `externref`s (via the reference types proposal) is enabled by default, unless you are creating non-null `externref`s in your host code or explicitly triggering GCs, you cannot be affected by this bug. We have reason to believe that the effective impact of this bug is relatively small because usage of `externref` is currently quite rare. This bug has been patched and users should upgrade to Wasmtime version 0.30.0. If you cannot upgrade Wasmtime at this time, you can avoid this bug by disabling the reference types proposal by passing `false` to `wasmtime::Config::wasm_reference_types`.

Published
Sep 17, 2021
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.3% · 23th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

25

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
25 / 40 · 6.3 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.3%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.3
CNA · GitHub_M
6.3
agree

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

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

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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
bytecodealliancewasmtime
fedoraprojectfedora

Versions reported by the vendor

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

  • bytecodealliance wasmtime

    • >= 0.26.0, <= 0.29.0affected

Affected versions

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

  • bytecodealliance wasmtime0.26.0 and later · before 0.30.0
  • fedoraproject fedora34
  • fedoraproject fedora35

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
crates.iowasmtimefrom 0.0.0-0 · before 0.30.00.30.0
crates.iowasmtimefrom 0.26.0 · before 0.30.00.30.0
crates.iowasmtimebefore 0.30.00.30.0
PyPIwasmtimefrom 0.26.0 · before 0.30.00.30.0
PyPIwasmtimebefore 0.30.00.30.0

Same product

bytecodealliance: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-115893Wasmtime: Cranelift backend on aarch64 can jump to incorrect target on large Wasm `br_table` instruction
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2026-115889Wasmtime: Bit-packing in Cranelift compiler causes silent overflow and miscompilation
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2022-39394wasmtime_trap_code C API function has out of bounds write vulnerability
    39Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-39216Sep 17, 2021 · Use after free passing `externref`s to Wasm in Wasmtime
    25Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-39219Sep 17, 2021 · Wrong type for `Linker`-define functions when used across two `Engine`s
    25Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2022-23636Feb 16, 2022 · Invalid drop of partially-initialized instances in wasmtime
    32Monitor

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
crates.io:wasmtime0.30.0Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:wasmtime0.30.0Package 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.

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

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

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

CVSS vector

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

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.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (4 more)

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

All records