CVE-2021-26958 — xcb
HIGHCVE-2021-26958 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-252 vulnerability in xcb. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for xcb — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Out of bounds read in xcb
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-26958 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
xcbReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
An issue was discovered in the xcb crate through 2021-02-04 for Rust. It has a soundness violation because there is an out-of-bounds read in xcb::xproto::change_property(), as demonstrated by a format=32 T=u8 situation where out-of-bounds bytes are sent to an X server.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | xcb | all versions | 1.0.0cargo update -p xcb --precise 1.0.0 |
Affected Products
xcbxcb_projectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for xcb, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update xcb to 1.0.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-26958 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-26958 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.