CVE-2021-45688 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-908 vulnerability in ash. A fix is available for ash — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Use of Uninitialized Resource in ash.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-45688 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
ashReal-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 ash crate before 0.33.1 for Rust. util::read_spv may read from uninitialized memory locations.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | ash | all versions | 0.33.1cargo update -p ash --precise 0.33.1 |
Affected Products
ashash-rsDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ash, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ash to 0.33.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-45688 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-45688 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.