Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-3538 affects the Go library satori/go.uuid. Some versions generated UUIDs using insecure randomness, making UUID values predictable to an attacker. Business impact depends on how applications use those UUIDs: simple database identifiers are lower risk, but UUIDs used as secrets, invite links, reset tokens, or access keys raise urgency.
Executive priority
Treat as priority for applications where UUIDs control access or confidentiality. If UUIDs are only non-secret identifiers, remediation can follow normal dependency hygiene, but teams should still remove the affected dependency path.
Technical view
The flaw is CWE-338 in github.com/satori/go.uuid, specifically insecure randomness in g.rand.Read. The source bundle identifies affected code from commit 0ef6afb2f6cdd6cdaeee3885a95099c63f18fc8c through d91630c8510268e75203009fe7daf2b8e1d60c45. CVSS, fixed version, and detailed remediation evidence are not included in the provided sources.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely where Go applications import github.com/satori/go.uuid at an affected commit or version. Risk is highest when generated UUIDs are trusted as unpredictable security values rather than ordinary identifiers.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Practical abuse would depend on whether predictable UUIDs grant access, reveal records, or bypass authorization in a specific application design.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sufficient for the weakness class and affected component, but incomplete for CVSS, exploitation, and a named fixed release. Validate impact through usage analysis, because predictability is only security-critical when the application assumes UUIDs are unguessable.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory Go services using github.com/satori/go.uuid.
- Check vendor and advisory guidance for fixed or unaffected versions.
- Move dependencies outside the identified affected commit range where possible.
- Replace UUID-based secrets with cryptographically secure token generation.
- Rotate exposed tokens or links if affected UUIDs protected access.
Validation and detection
- Review go.mod, vendored code, and SBOMs for satori/go.uuid.
- Confirm the resolved commit or version against the affected range.
- Trace where generated UUIDs are used in application workflows.
- Prioritize cases involving reset links, invites, API keys, or authorization.
- Document compensating controls if immediate replacement is not feasible.
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-338: 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-2021-3538 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1954376CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/satori/go.uuid/issues/73CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-GOLANG-GITHUBCOMSATORIGOUUID-72488CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
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.
Use of Cryptographically Weak Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG)
Use of Cryptographically Weak Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG) represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.