Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-3782 is a Wayland shared-memory buffer accounting flaw. A local, authenticated client can drive an internal reference counter high enough to overflow, potentially leading to use-after-free behavior, service disruption, limited memory disclosure, or limited data manipulation in the graphical server context.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority local security update. It is not evidenced as actively exploited or remotely reachable, but it can affect availability and confidentiality on graphical Linux systems where untrusted local clients are possible.
Technical view
Wayland tracks wl_shm_pool references with an int. On LP64 systems, creating many wl_shm buffer objects or external references can overflow that count. The resulting incorrect lifetime tracking can enable use-after-free on the wl_shm_pool structure and a limited 4-byte-at-a-time server memory disclosure oracle.
Likely exposure
The only affected product named in the bundle is wayland 1.20.91. Exposure is most relevant to Linux desktop or graphical environments running that Wayland version where untrusted or lower-privileged local clients can connect to a Wayland session.
Exploitation context
The CVSS vector is local, low complexity, low privilege, no user interaction. The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or other evidence of active exploitation. Practical abuse appears limited to local Wayland client contexts, not remote network exploitation.
Researcher notes
Key weakness is CWE-190 integer overflow in wl_shm_pool reference counting. The provided evidence identifies possible use-after-free and limited memory disclosure, but does not provide confirmed exploit maturity, patch commit details, downstream distro status, or affected versions beyond wayland 1.20.91.
Mitigation direction
- Check freedesktop and distribution advisories for the fixed Wayland package version.
- Upgrade affected Wayland packages through supported OS or distribution channels.
- Reduce exposure of shared graphical sessions to untrusted local users where possible.
- Monitor local desktop or compositor crashes until patched.
- Track vendor guidance if no fixed package is available for your platform.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems running Wayland and identify installed package versions.
- Compare installed versions against vendor or distribution security advisories.
- Prioritize systems with shared workstations or untrusted local user access.
- Review logs for unusual compositor crashes or local session instability.
- After updating, confirm graphical sessions still start and operate normally.
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-190: 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-2021-3782 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
- 6.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
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 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:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H1.84.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.6MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/wayland/-/issues/224CVE 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.
Integer Overflow or Wraparound
Integer Overflow or Wraparound represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
