rpm CVE Vulnerabilities & Metrics

Focus on rpm vulnerabilities and metrics.

Last updated: 08 Mar 2025, 23:25 UTC

About rpm Security Exposure

This page consolidates all known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) associated with rpm. We track both calendar-based metrics (using fixed periods) and rolling metrics (using gliding windows) to give you a comprehensive view of security trends and risk evolution. Use these insights to assess risk and plan your patching strategy.

For a broader perspective on cybersecurity threats, explore the comprehensive list of CVEs by vendor and product. Stay updated on critical vulnerabilities affecting major software and hardware providers.

Global CVE Overview

Total rpm CVEs: 11
Earliest CVE date: 06 Nov 2006, 17:07 UTC
Latest CVE date: 26 Aug 2022, 16:15 UTC

Latest CVE reference: CVE-2021-35939

Rolling Stats

30-day Count (Rolling): 0
365-day Count (Rolling): 0

Calendar-based Variation

Calendar-based Variation compares a fixed calendar period (e.g., this month versus the same month last year), while Rolling Growth Rate uses a continuous window (e.g., last 30 days versus the previous 30 days) to capture trends independent of calendar boundaries.

Variations & Growth

Month Variation (Calendar): 0%
Year Variation (Calendar): 0%

Month Growth Rate (30-day Rolling): 0.0%
Year Growth Rate (365-day Rolling): 0.0%

Monthly CVE Trends (current vs previous Year)

Annual CVE Trends (Last 20 Years)

Critical rpm CVEs (CVSS ≥ 9) Over 20 Years

CVSS Stats

Average CVSS: 5.54

Max CVSS: 10.0

Critical CVEs (≥9): 3

CVSS Range vs. Count

Range Count
0.0-3.9 4
4.0-6.9 11
7.0-8.9 6
9.0-10.0 3

CVSS Distribution Chart

Top 5 Highest CVSS rpm CVEs

These are the five CVEs with the highest CVSS scores for rpm, sorted by severity first and recency.

All CVEs for rpm

CVE-2021-35939 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 0 26 Aug 2022, 16:15 UTC

It was found that the fix for CVE-2017-7500 and CVE-2017-7501 was incomplete: the check was only implemented for the parent directory of the file to be created. A local unprivileged user who owns another ancestor directory could potentially use this flaw to gain root privileges. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

CVE-2021-35938 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 0 25 Aug 2022, 20:15 UTC

A symbolic link issue was found in rpm. It occurs when rpm sets the desired permissions and credentials after installing a file. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to exchange the original file with a symbolic link to a security-critical file and escalate their privileges on the system. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

CVE-2021-35937 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 0 25 Aug 2022, 20:15 UTC

A race condition vulnerability was found in rpm. A local unprivileged user could use this flaw to bypass the checks that were introduced in response to CVE-2017-7500 and CVE-2017-7501, potentially gaining root privileges. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

CVE-2021-3521 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 0 22 Aug 2022, 15:15 UTC

There is a flaw in RPM's signature functionality. OpenPGP subkeys are associated with a primary key via a "binding signature." RPM does not check the binding signature of subkeys prior to importing them. If an attacker is able to add or socially engineer another party to add a malicious subkey to a legitimate public key, RPM could wrongly trust a malicious signature. The greatest impact of this flaw is to data integrity. To exploit this flaw, an attacker must either compromise an RPM repository or convince an administrator to install an untrusted RPM or public key. It is strongly recommended to only use RPMs and public keys from trusted sources.

CVE-2021-3421 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 4.3 19 May 2021, 14:15 UTC

A flaw was found in the RPM package in the read functionality. This flaw allows an attacker who can convince a victim to install a seemingly verifiable package or compromise an RPM repository, to cause RPM database corruption. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data integrity. This flaw affects RPM versions before 4.17.0-alpha.

CVE-2021-20266 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 4.0 30 Apr 2021, 12:15 UTC

A flaw was found in RPM's hdrblobInit() in lib/header.c. This flaw allows an attacker who can modify the rpmdb to cause an out-of-bounds read. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

CVE-2021-20271 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 5.1 26 Mar 2021, 17:15 UTC

A flaw was found in RPM's signature check functionality when reading a package file. This flaw allows an attacker who can convince a victim to install a seemingly verifiable package, whose signature header was modified, to cause RPM database corruption and execute code. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data integrity, confidentiality, and system availability.

CVE-2019-3817 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 6.8 27 Mar 2019, 13:29 UTC

A use-after-free flaw has been discovered in libcomps before version 0.1.10 in the way ObjMRTrees are merged. An attacker, who is able to make an application read a crafted comps XML file, may be able to crash the application or execute malicious code.

CVE-2017-7500 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 13 Aug 2018, 17:29 UTC

It was found that rpm did not properly handle RPM installations when a destination path was a symbolic link to a directory, possibly changing ownership and permissions of an arbitrary directory, and RPM files being placed in an arbitrary destination. An attacker, with write access to a directory in which a subdirectory will be installed, could redirect that directory to an arbitrary location and gain root privilege.

CVE-2018-10897 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 9.3 01 Aug 2018, 17:29 UTC

A directory traversal issue was found in reposync, a part of yum-utils, where reposync fails to sanitize paths in remote repository configuration files. If an attacker controls a repository, they may be able to copy files outside of the destination directory on the targeted system via path traversal. If reposync is running with heightened privileges on a targeted system, this flaw could potentially result in system compromise via the overwriting of critical system files. Version 1.1.31 and older are believed to be affected.

CVE-2017-7501 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 4.6 22 Nov 2017, 22:29 UTC

It was found that versions of rpm before 4.13.0.2 use temporary files with predictable names when installing an RPM. An attacker with ability to write in a directory where files will be installed could create symbolic links to an arbitrary location and modify content, and possibly permissions to arbitrary files, which could be used for denial of service or possibly privilege escalation.

CVE-2014-8118 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 10.0 16 Dec 2014, 18:59 UTC

Integer overflow in RPM 4.12 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted CPIO header in the payload section of an RPM file, which triggers a stack-based buffer overflow.

CVE-2013-6435 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 7.6 16 Dec 2014, 18:59 UTC

Race condition in RPM 4.11.1 and earlier allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted RPM file whose installation extracts the contents to temporary files before validating the signature, as demonstrated by installing a file in the /etc/cron.d directory.

CVE-2012-6088 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 4.3 18 Jan 2013, 11:48 UTC

The rpmpkgRead function in lib/package.c in RPM 4.10.x before 4.10.2 does not return an error code in certain situations involving an "unparseable signature," which allows remote attackers to bypass RPM signature checks via a crafted package.

CVE-2012-0815 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 6.8 04 Jun 2012, 20:55 UTC

The headerVerifyInfo function in lib/header.c in RPM before 4.9.1.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a negative value in a region offset of a package header, which is not properly handled in a numeric range comparison.

CVE-2012-0061 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 6.8 04 Jun 2012, 20:55 UTC

The headerLoad function in lib/header.c in RPM before 4.9.1.3 does not properly validate region tags, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via a large region size in a package header.

CVE-2012-0060 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 6.8 04 Jun 2012, 20:55 UTC

RPM before 4.9.1.3 does not properly validate region tags, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via an invalid region tag in a package header to the (1) headerLoad, (2) rpmReadSignature, or (3) headerVerify function.

CVE-2011-3378 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 9.3 24 Dec 2011, 19:55 UTC

RPM 4.4.x through 4.9.x, probably before 4.9.1.2, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory corruption) and possibly execute arbitrary code via an rpm package with crafted headers and offsets that are not properly handled when a package is queried or installed, related to (1) the regionSwab function, (2) the headerLoad function, and (3) multiple functions in rpmio/rpmpgp.c.

CVE-2010-2199 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 08 Jun 2010, 18:30 UTC

lib/fsm.c in RPM 4.8.0 and earlier does not properly reset the metadata of an executable file during replacement of the file in an RPM package upgrade or deletion of the file in an RPM package removal, which might allow local users to bypass intended access restrictions by creating a hard link to a vulnerable file that has a POSIX ACL, a related issue to CVE-2010-2059.

CVE-2010-2198 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 08 Jun 2010, 18:30 UTC

lib/fsm.c in RPM 4.8.0 and earlier does not properly reset the metadata of an executable file during replacement of the file in an RPM package upgrade or deletion of the file in an RPM package removal, which might allow local users to gain privileges or bypass intended access restrictions by creating a hard link to a vulnerable file that has (1) POSIX file capabilities or (2) SELinux context information, a related issue to CVE-2010-2059.

CVE-2010-2197 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 5.8 08 Jun 2010, 18:30 UTC

rpmbuild in RPM 4.8.0 and earlier does not properly parse the syntax of spec files, which allows user-assisted remote attackers to remove home directories via vectors involving a ;~ (semicolon tilde) sequence in a Name tag.

CVE-2010-2059 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 08 Jun 2010, 18:30 UTC

lib/fsm.c in RPM 4.8.0 and unspecified 4.7.x and 4.6.x versions, and RPM before 4.4.3, does not properly reset the metadata of an executable file during replacement of the file in an RPM package upgrade, which might allow local users to gain privileges by creating a hard link to a vulnerable (1) setuid or (2) setgid file.

CVE-2005-4889 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 7.2 08 Jun 2010, 18:30 UTC

lib/fsm.c in RPM before 4.4.3 does not properly reset the metadata of an executable file during deletion of the file in an RPM package removal, which might allow local users to gain privileges by creating a hard link to a vulnerable (1) setuid or (2) setgid file, a related issue to CVE-2010-2059.

CVE-2006-5466 rpm vulnerability CVSS: 5.4 06 Nov 2006, 17:07 UTC

Heap-based buffer overflow in the showQueryPackage function in librpm in RPM Package Manager 4.4.8, when the LANG environment variable is set to ru_RU.UTF-8, might allow user-assisted attackers to execute arbitrary code via crafted RPM packages.