CVE-2021-41087

Workarounds

Exploiting this vulnerability is dependent on the specific policy applied.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Open an issue in in-toto-golang
• Email us at in-toto-public
• If this is a sensitive security-relevant disclosure, please send a PGP encrypted email to [email protected] or [email protected]

Authenticated attackers posing as functionaries (i.e., within a trusted set of users for a layout) are able to create attestations that may bypass DISALLOW rules in the same layout. An attacker with access to trusted private keys, may issue an attestation that contains a disallowed artifact by including path traversal semantics (e.g., foo vs dir/../foo).

Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files. Typical impact: unauthorized file read or write outside the intended directory.

CVE-2021-41087 has a CVSS score of 5.6 (Medium). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.3.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

The problem has been fixed in version 0.3.0.

1. What is CVE-2021-41087? CVE-2021-41087 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in github.com/in-toto/in-toto-golang (go), affecting versions <= 0.2.0. It is fixed in 0.3.0. Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files.
2. How severe is CVE-2021-41087? CVE-2021-41087 has a CVSS score of 5.6 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of github.com/in-toto/in-toto-golang are affected by CVE-2021-41087? github.com/in-toto/in-toto-golang (go) versions <= 0.2.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2021-41087? Yes. CVE-2021-41087 is fixed in 0.3.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2021-41087 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2021-41087 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2021-41087 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2021-41087? Upgrade github.com/in-toto/in-toto-golang to 0.3.0 or later.

Other vulnerabilities in github.com/in-toto/in-toto-golang