How severe is CVE-2021-43998?

CVE-2021-43998 has a CVSS score of 6.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2021-43998?

CVE-2021-43998 affects the following packages: github.com/hashicorp/vault (Go), github.com/hashicorp/vault (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2021-43998?

Update github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.7.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-43998 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2021-43998 in my Go dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2021-43998 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Is CVE-2021-43998 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2021-43998 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-2021-43998?

CVE-2021-43998 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 1.0%, placing it in the 63th 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-2021-43998?

CVE-2021-43998 is classified as CWE-732 (CWE-732). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2021-43998 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2021-43998 was published on November 30, 2021 and was last updated on July 8, 2026. 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

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2021-43998 — vault

MEDIUM

CVE-2021-43998 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-732 vulnerability in github.com/hashicorp/vault. A fix is available for github.com/hashicorp/vault — see the affected versions and patch details below.

HashiCorp Vault Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

Also known asBIT-vault-2021-43998GHSA-pfmw-vj74-ph8gGO-2022-0611

Published

Nov 30, 2021

Updated

Jul 8, 2026

Affected

2 pkgs

Patched

2 / 2

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 7, 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 CVEs63th percentile — riskier than 63% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2021-43998 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,386 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected

🐹github.com/hashicorp/vault🐹github.com/hashicorp/vault

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

HashiCorp Vault and Vault Enterprise 0.11.0 up to 1.7.5 and 1.8.4 templated ACL policies would always match the first-created entity alias if multiple entity aliases exist for a specified entity and mount combination, potentially resulting in incorrect policy enforcement. Fixed in Vault and Vault Enterprise 1.7.6, 1.8.5, and 1.9.0.

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/hashicorp/vault`	≥ 0.11.0&&< 1.7.6	1.7.6`go get github.com/hashicorp/vault@v1.7.6`
🐹Go	`github.com/hashicorp/vault`	≥ 1.8.0&&< 1.8.5	1.8.5`go get github.com/hashicorp/vault@v1.8.5`

Affected Products

1 product · 4 configurations

Application

vaulthashicorp

≥ 0.11.0 && ≤ 1.7.5

1 version

1.8.4

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/hashicorp/vault, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/hashicorp/vault to 1.7.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-43998 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

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 HatModerate

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13	`openshift4/bare-metal-event-relay-operator-bundle:v4.13.0-39`	RHSA-2023:2138
RHODF-4.13-RHEL-9	`odf4/odf-rhel9-operator:v4.13.0-24`	RHSA-2023:3742

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2021-43998 in your dependencies?

Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

6.5/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

High

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

None

Raw vector

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

CWE Classification

CWE-732CWE-732

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

vault

6.5/10

Code-Review0/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-Protection8/10

Assessed Oct 5, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Nov 30, 2021

Last updated

Jul 8, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2021-43998

GHSA-pfmw-vj74-ph8g

BIT-vault-2021-43998

GO-2022-0611

References

Advisorydiscuss.hashicorp.com Advisorysecurity.gentoo.org Advisorynvd.nist.gov Packagegithub.com

Related vulnerabilities

This CVE is medium severity; 8 of 8 other CVEs affecting vault are rated as high or higher (top: high).

CVE-2026-4525CVE-2026-5807CVE-2026-5052CVE-2026-3605CVE-2025-11621CVE-2025-12044CVE-2025-6203CVE-2025-6013

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedJul 8, 2026

CVE-2021-43998 — vault

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-2021-43998 in your dependencies?