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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2021-41150: Improper sanitization of delegated role names in tough

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • 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: 1.2% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 70.4% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: tough (crates.io) 0.12.0; tuf (PyPI) 0.19.0.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to tough (crates.io) 0.12.0; tuf (PyPI) 0.19.0 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

Tough provides a set of Rust libraries and tools for using and generating the update framework (TUF) repositories. The tough library, prior to 0.12.0, does not properly sanitize delegated role names when caching a repository, or when loading a repository from the filesystem. When the repository is cached or loaded, files ending with the .json extension could be overwritten with role metadata anywhere on the system. A fix is available in version 0.12.0. No workarounds to this issue are known.

Published
Oct 19, 2021
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
1.2% · 70th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.2%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.5
CNA · GitHub_M
8.2
1.7 point gap

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

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

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.

Follow CVE-2021-41150

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
amazontough

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.

  • awslabs tough

    • < 0.12.0affected

Affected versions

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

  • amazon toughbefore 0.12.0

Package-level exposure

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

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
crates.iotoughbefore 0.12.00.12.0
PyPItufbefore 0.19.00.19.0

Same product

amazon: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2020-15093Improper verification of signature threshold in tough
    34Monitor
  • CVE-2021-41149Improper sanitization of target names in tough
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2026-6968Multiple Path Traversal Variants in awslabs/tough
    28Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • Later →CVE-2025-2885Mar 27, 2025 · Root metadata version not validated in tough
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2025-2886Mar 27, 2025 · Terminating targets role delegations are not respected in tough
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2025-2887Mar 27, 2025 · Failure to detect delegated target rollback in tough
    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
crates.io:tough0.12.0Package registry (OSV)
PyPI:tuf0.19.0Package 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.

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

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

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

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

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

A user-supplied file name is joined with the allowed directory, but the result is never checked to confirm it is still inside that directory.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-22 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const file = path.join(ROOT, req.query.name);res.sendFile(file);

Fixed

ts
const file = path.resolve(ROOT, req.query.name);if (!file.startsWith(ROOT + path.sep)) {  return res.sendStatus(400);}res.sendFile(file);

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 (2 more)

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

All records