How severe is CVE-2021-3495?

CVE-2021-3495 has a CVSS score of 8.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-3495?

CVE-2021-3495 affects the following packages: github.com/kiali/kiali (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2021-3495?

Update github.com/kiali/kiali to 1.33.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3495 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-3495 in my Go dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/kiali/kiali, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-3495 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Is CVE-2021-3495 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2021-3495 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2021-3495?

CVE-2021-3495 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.0%, placing it in the 61th 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. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2021-3495?

CVE-2021-3495 is classified as CWE-281 (CWE-281). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2021-3495 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-3495 was published on June 8, 2021 and was last updated on August 21, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

HIGH severity

CVE-2021-3495 — kiali

HIGHFix: kiali/kiali-operator#278

CVE-2021-3495 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-281 vulnerability in github.com/kiali/kiali. A fix is available for github.com/kiali/kiali — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Access control flaw in Kiali

Also known asGO-2022-0645

Published

Jun 8, 2021

Updated

Aug 21, 2024

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 9, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

1.0%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs61th percentile — riskier than 61% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-3495 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐹github.com/kiali/kiali

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

An incorrect access control flaw was found in the kiali-operator in versions before 1.33.0 and before 1.24.7. This flaw allows an attacker with a basic level of access to the cluster (to deploy a kiali operand) to use this vulnerability and deploy a given image to anywhere in the cluster, potentially gaining access to privileged service account tokens. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/kiali/kiali`	all versions	1.33.0`go get github.com/kiali/kiali@v1.33.0`

Affected Products

2 products · 4 configurations

Application

kiali-operatornetlify

≥ 1.30.0 && < 1.33.0

range

Application

openshift service meshredhat

2 versions

1.02.0

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/kiali/kiali, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/kiali/kiali to 1.33.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3495 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.

Fixing This On Your OS

If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.

Red HatImportant

In regards to the ServiceMesh `openshift-service-mesh/kiali-rhel7` container, it has been superseded by the `openshift-service-mesh/kiali-rhel8` container and is no longer supported.

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0	`openshift-service-mesh/kiali-rhel8-operator:1.24.7-1`	RHSA-2021:1544

Frequently Asked Questions

An incorrect access control flaw was found in the kiali-operator in versions before 1.33.0. This flaw allows an attacker with a basic level of access to the cluster (to deploy a kiali operand) to use this vulnerability and deploy a given image to anywhere in the cluster, potentially gaining access to privileged service account tokens. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-3495 in your dependencies?

Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

8.8/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Raw vector

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

CWE Classification

CWE-281CWE-281

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Jun 8, 2021

Last updated

Aug 21, 2024

Identifiers

CVE-2021-3495

GO-2022-0645

References

Advisorynvd.nist.gov Webgithub.com Webbugzilla.redhat.com Webkiali.io

Related vulnerabilities

Also affects kiali

This CVE is high severity; 2 of 4 other CVEs affecting kiali are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2022-3962CVE-2021-20278CVE-2020-1762CVE-2020-1764

Same weakness: CWE-281

This CVE is high severity; 1 of 4 other CVEs with CWE-281 is rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2026-61709CVE-2026-88016CVE-2026-58510CVE-2026-35341Browse all CWE-281

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedAug 21, 2024

CVE-2021-3495 — kiali

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Fixing This On Your OS

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2021-3495 in your dependencies?