Detections
Analytics

Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2021-36770

high Nessus Plugin ID 252220

Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

 - Encode.pm, as distributed in Perl through 5.34.0, allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse Encode::ConfigLocal library (in the current working directory) that preempts dynamic module loading.
 Exploitation requires an unusual configuration, and certain 2021 versions of Encode.pm (3.05 through 3.11). This issue occurs because the || operator evaluates @INC in a scalar context, and thus @INC has only an integer value. (CVE-2021-36770)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-36770

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 252220

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2021_36770.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 8/19/2025

Updated: 8/19/2025

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5.9

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Temporal Score: 5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-36770

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:25.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:24.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:libencode-perl, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:22.04:-:lts

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/cpu, global_settings/vendor_unpatched, Host/OS/identifier

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 8/11/2021

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-36770