memcached 1.6.9 Authenticattion File authfile.c buffer overflow

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.
4.4	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in memcached 1.6.9. This affects an unknown function of the file authfile.c of the component Authenticattion File Handler. The manipulation leads to buffer overflow. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2021-37519. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in memcached 1.6.9. This issue affects an unknown functionality of the file authfile.c of the component Authenticattion File Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a buffer overflow vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-120. The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer, leading to a buffer overflow. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

Buffer Overflow vulnerability in authfile.c memcached 1.6.9 allows attackers to cause a denial of service via crafted authenticattion file.

The weakness was released 02/03/2023 as 805. It is possible to read the advisory at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2021-37519 since 07/26/2021. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 261531 (Amazon Linux 2 : memcached, --advisory ALAS2MEMCACHED1.5-2025-001 (ALASMEMCACHED1.5-2025-001)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (261531). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

memcached

Version

1.6.9

Website

Product: https://github.com/memcached/memcached/

CPE 2.3info

🔍

CPE 2.2info

🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 4.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.4

VulDB Base Score: 3.5
VulDB Temp Score: 3.4
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.5
NVD Vector: 🔍

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: Buffer overflow
CWE: CWE-120 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Partially

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: 261531
Nessus Name: Amazon Linux 2 : memcached, --advisory ALAS2MEMCACHED1.5-2025-001 (ALASMEMCACHED1.5-2025-001)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

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

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Patch: github.com

Timelineinfo

07/26/2021 🔍
02/03/2023 +557 days 🔍
02/03/2023 +0 days 🔍
09/06/2025 +946 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Product: github.com

Advisory: 805
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2021-37519 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2021-37519
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-220151

Entryinfo

Created: 02/03/2023 21:08
Updated: 09/06/2025 19:02
Changes: 02/03/2023 21:08 (41), 03/04/2023 15:52 (11), 09/06/2025 19:02 (17)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103