CVE-2021-3560

Incorrect Authorization

CVSS 3.1 High 7.8Known exploited (CISA KEV)

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

Description

It was found that polkit could be tricked into bypassing the credential checks for D-Bus requests, elevating the privileges of the requestor to the root user. This flaw could be used by an unprivileged local attacker to, for example, create a new local administrator. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Key data

CVSS 3.1 High 7.8

Score published by CISA-ADP in the CVE record.

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

Attack vector: Local
The attacker needs local access to the system, or to trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity: Low
No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will.
Privileges required: Low
A basic user account is needed.
User interaction: None
No action from any user is needed.
Scope: Unchanged
The impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality impact: High
Serious or total effect on the secrecy of data.
Integrity impact: High
Serious or total effect on the trustworthiness of data.
Availability impact: High
Serious or total effect on availability.

Metric	Value	What it means
Attack vector	Local	The attacker needs local access to the system, or to trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity	Low	No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will.
Privileges required	Low	A basic user account is needed.
User interaction	None	No action from any user is needed.
Scope	Unchanged	The impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality impact	High	Serious or total effect on the secrecy of data.
Integrity impact	High	Serious or total effect on the trustworthiness of data.
Availability impact	High	Serious or total effect on availability.

CVSS is owned and managed by FIRST.Org, Inc. (FIRST) and is used by permission. Each CVSS score on this site is shown together with its vector string, as published in the CVE record by the source named next to it. Learn more at first.org/cvss.

EPSS

Exploit Prediction Scoring System by FIRST: an estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days.

Score: 0.21768 (21.8% probability)
Percentile: 97.7%
Scores of: Nov 10, 2026
Model: v2026.06.15

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

This CVE is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Name in the catalog: Red Hat Polkit Incorrect Authorization Vulnerability
Added to the catalog: May 12, 2023
Federal due date: Jun 2, 2023

CISA assessment as of Jan 29, 2025

Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization (SSVC) decision points added by CISA.

Exploitation: Recorded by CISA as active
Automatable: no
Technical impact: total

Weakness (CWE)

CWE catalog version 5.0.

CWE-863Incorrect Authorization

Affected products

Products listed in the CVE record, as the CNA published them.

polkit
- affected: polkit 0.119

References

Links listed in the CVE record. They lead to other sites, which CubePath does not control.

Timeline

ID reservedMay 20, 2021
Record publishedFeb 16, 2022
Added to CISA KEVMay 12, 2023
Record last updatedOct 21, 2025

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Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:25 UTC. Sources and licenses