How severe is CVE-2021-30860?

CVE-2021-30860 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-30860?

Affected package information for CVE-2021-30860 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2021-30860?

Upgrade the affected component to the fixed release for CVE-2021-30860, or apply your distribution's backported patch — distro builds are often patched at an older version number, so check your vendor's advisory rather than the upstream version alone.

How do I detect CVE-2021-30860 in my code and dependencies?

Identify every host running the affected component and compare the installed build against the fixed version below — for source-built or distro-packaged software the version string, not a lockfile, is the source of truth (`dpkg -l`, `rpm -q`, or the binary's own `--version`).

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-30860 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Stop feeding it untrusted input: reject or quarantine files and payloads from unverified sources until you can upgrade, restrict accepted formats to the ones you actually need, and run the parsing or decoding step in a least-privileged sandbox or short-lived worker so a crash or corrupted read cannot reach the rest of the process.

Is CVE-2021-30860 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 11 known exploit references for CVE-2021-30860, including 9 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-30860?

CVE-2021-30860 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 76.0%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2021-30860 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2021-30860 (Apple Multiple Products Integer Overflow Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2021-11-17. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-30860?

CVE-2021-30860 is classified as CWE-190 (CWE-190). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2021-30860 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-30860 was published on August 24, 2021 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🛡️

CISA KEV · ACTIVELY EXPLOITED

HIGH severity

CVE-2021-30860 — poppler

HIGH

CVE-2021-30860 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) CWE-190 vulnerability. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03) — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Published

Aug 24, 2021

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

7 products

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

11 known

Exploitation data as of Oct 23, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

Actively exploited in the wild

Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2021-11-17.
A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2021-30860.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

76.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs100th percentile — riskier than 100% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-30860 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Description

An integer overflow was addressed with improved input validation. This issue is fixed in Security Update 2021-005 Catalina, iOS 14.8 and iPadOS 14.8, macOS Big Sur 11.6, watchOS 7.6.2. Processing a maliciously crafted PDF may lead to arbitrary code execution. Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited.

Affected Products

7 products · 15 configurations

ipadosapple

< 14.8

range

iphone osapple

≥ 13.0 && < 14.8

range

mac os xapple

≥ 10.15 && < 10.15.7

1 version

10.15.7

macosapple

< 11.6

range

watchosapple

< 7.6.2

range

Application

popplerfreedesktop

< 22.09.0

range

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.