GNOME gnome-shell CAP_SYS_NICE dropped privileges

HistoryDiffrelatejsonxmlCTI

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.3	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in GNOME gnome-shell. It has been classified as critical. The affected element is the function CAP_SYS_NICE. This manipulation causes dropped privileges. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2021-3982. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in GNOME gnome-shell (unknown version). Affected by this vulnerability is the function CAP_SYS_NICE. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a dropped privileges vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-273. The product attempts to drop privileges but does not check or incorrectly checks to see if the drop succeeded. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The weakness was released 04/30/2022 as 4711. The advisory is shared at gitlab.gnome.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2021-3982 since 11/19/2021. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1068 for this issue.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 253554 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2021-3982), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (253554). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

GNOME

Name

gnome-shell

License

open-source

Website

Vendor: https://www.gnome.org/

CPE 2.3info

🔍

CPE 2.2info

🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.3

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.3
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Dropped privileges
CWE: CWE-273 / CWE-266
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 253554
Nessus Name: Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2021-3982

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

11/19/2021 🔍
04/30/2022 +161 days 🔍
04/30/2022 +0 days 🔍
08/23/2025 +1211 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: gnome.org

Advisory: 4711
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2021-3982 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2021-3982
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-198721

Entryinfo

Created: 04/30/2022 07:50
Updated: 08/23/2025 22:53
Changes: 04/30/2022 07:50 (37), 05/04/2022 10:42 (1), 08/23/2025 22:53 (16)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.