Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects wpa_supplicant and hostapd 2.9 certificate handling. A nearby attacker may be able to cause a forgery-related integrity impact because AlgorithmIdentifier parameters are mishandled. The public data rates this as medium severity, not a broad remote takeover issue.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted infrastructure hygiene item. It warrants patch verification on wireless authentication systems, but the provided evidence does not support emergency response for active exploitation.
Technical view
CVE-2021-30004 is an input-validation flaw in tls/pkcs1.c and tls/x509v3.c in wpa_supplicant and hostapd 2.9. The CVSS vector is adjacent-network, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, with low integrity impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on systems, access points, clients, or distributions using vulnerable wpa_supplicant or hostapd 2.9 code. The source bundle does not provide complete CPE or product-version coverage.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show known active exploitation, and KEV is false. CVSS indicates an adjacent-network attack path with integrity impact, but no stated confidentiality or availability impact.
Researcher notes
The affected-product metadata is incomplete, listing n/a, while the CVE description names wpa_supplicant and hostapd 2.9. Analysis should therefore avoid expanding scope beyond vendor advisories, package changelogs, and the upstream hostap fix.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade wpa_supplicant and hostapd through vendor or distribution security updates.
- Review Gentoo GLSA-202309-16 if running affected Gentoo packages.
- Confirm whether the hostap upstream fix is included in deployed builds.
- Ask device vendors for fixed firmware when packages are embedded.
- Prioritize Wi-Fi infrastructure and clients using certificate-based authentication.
Validation and detection
- Inventory wpa_supplicant and hostapd versions across endpoints and network devices.
- Check distribution package changelogs for CVE-2021-30004 or the upstream fix.
- Identify devices using hostapd or wpa_supplicant 2.9-derived firmware.
- Review authentication logs for unusual certificate-validation or association anomalies.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-30004 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 4.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N2.81.4CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/commit/?id=a0541334a6394f8237a4393b7372693cd7e96f15CVE reference, mitre
- GLSA-202309-16CVE reference, mitre · vendor-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.