How severe is CVE-2021-3493?

CVE-2021-3493 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-3493?

Affected package information for CVE-2021-3493 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2021-3493?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2021-3493 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2021-3493 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 12 known exploit references for CVE-2021-3493, 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-2021-3493?

CVE-2021-3493 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 80.0%, placing it in the 99th 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-2021-3493 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2021-3493 (Linux Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2022-10-20. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-11-10. 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-2021-3493?

CVE-2021-3493 is classified as CWE-270 (CWE-270), CWE-863 (CWE-863). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2021-3493 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-3493 was published on April 17, 2021 and was last updated on March 15, 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·Added 2022-10-20 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-11-10

CVE-2021-3493

HIGH

Published

Apr 17, 2021

Updated

Mar 15, 2026

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

12 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

80.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk99th percentile+0.26%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

The overlayfs implementation in the linux kernel did not properly validate with respect to user namespaces the setting of file capabilities on files in an underlying file system. Due to the combination of unprivileged user namespaces along with a patch carried in the Ubuntu kernel to allow unprivileged overlay mounts, an attacker could use this to gain elevated privileges.

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.