Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-39592 is a denial-of-service issue in swftools through 20200710. If a vulnerable swftools component processes attacker-controlled input, the process can crash. The sources do not report data theft, code execution, active exploitation, or a confirmed fixed version.
Executive priority
Treat this as a targeted availability risk. Prioritize internet-facing or customer-upload workflows first, because a crash in automated processing can disrupt service operations even without code execution.
Technical view
The CVE describes a NULL pointer dereference in pool_lookup_uint() in pool.c. The stated impact is denial of service. Public metadata does not include CVSS, CWE, detailed affected CPEs, or patch information beyond swftools through 20200710.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where swftools through 20200710 is installed and used to process untrusted SWF or related files, especially upload, conversion, or batch-processing workflows.
Exploitation context
No KEV listing and no cited source in the bundle confirms active exploitation. The issue appears to require reaching vulnerable file-processing code and is documented as a crash-style denial of service, not remote code execution.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sparse: the CVE record names the function and DoS impact, but lacks CVSS, CWE, CPE, exploit status, and patch details. Keep conclusions limited to swftools through 20200710 unless upstream evidence expands scope.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory systems and containers for swftools through 20200710.
- Avoid processing untrusted files with vulnerable swftools builds.
- Run necessary processing in isolated workers with resource limits.
- Check upstream project guidance for fixed versions or patches.
- Remove swftools from workflows where it is no longer required.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether swftools is installed and record its version or build date.
- Identify services, jobs, or scripts that invoke swftools on user-supplied files.
- Review crash logs for failures involving pool.c or pool_lookup_uint().
- Check the referenced GitHub issue for vendor discussion and remediation status.
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
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CVE-2021-39592 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
- 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://github.com/matthiaskramm/swftools/issues/138CVE 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.