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CVE Record

CVE-2021-36370: An issue was discovered in Midnight Commander through 4.8.26.

An issue was discovered in Midnight Commander through 4.8.26. When establishing an SFTP connection, the fingerprint of the server is neither checked nor displayed. As a result, a user connects to the server without the ability to verify its authenticity.

UnknownCVSS not scoredNot KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

Midnight Commander through 4.8.26 could connect by SFTP without showing or checking the server fingerprint. Users therefore lacked a normal way to confirm they were reaching the real server, increasing risk of credential or data exposure during intercepted SFTP sessions.

Executive priority

Treat this as a targeted workstation and administrator-tool risk, not a broad remote-code-execution emergency. Prioritize teams that use Midnight Commander for SFTP to sensitive systems.

Technical view

The flaw is in Midnight Commander’s SFTP virtual filesystem connection behavior. During SFTP setup, server identity was not verified or displayed to the user. The CVE record provides no CVSS score, CWE, confirmed patch version, or active exploitation evidence.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to systems using Midnight Commander through 4.8.26 for SFTP connections, especially from administrator workstations or over untrusted networks. Ordinary local file browsing is not implicated by the provided description.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show active exploitation, and KEV is false. The risk scenario is server impersonation during SFTP connection setup because the user cannot validate the remote server’s authenticity.

Researcher notes

Evidence is concise and incomplete: the CVE describes missing SFTP fingerprint display/checking, but does not provide CVSS, CWE, patch status, exploit reports, or full affected CPE data. Avoid overstating scope beyond Midnight Commander through 4.8.26.

Mitigation direction

  • Check Midnight Commander vendor guidance and release notes for a version addressing SFTP fingerprint verification.
  • Avoid using affected Midnight Commander SFTP for sensitive transfers until verification behavior is confirmed.
  • Use SFTP tooling that performs host-key or fingerprint verification for sensitive connections.
  • Prefer trusted network paths or VPN controls for unavoidable affected-client usage.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Midnight Commander installations and identify versions through 4.8.26.
  • Confirm whether users or scripts rely on Midnight Commander SFTP connections.
  • Review vendor source, advisories, or release notes for fingerprint verification changes.
  • Test in a controlled environment whether SFTP displays or validates server identity.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
7

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

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CVE-2021-36370 mapping review

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Unknown
CVSS
Not scored
Known Exploited
No
Published
Official CVE source material

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.

0CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
7Source links

CVSS and timeline data

No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
n/an/an/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

No CWE listed

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.