{"cve":"CVE-2021-38153","nvd":{"published":"2021-09-22T09:15:07.847","modified":"2026-06-17T04:01:35.023","status":"Modified","description":"Some components in Apache Kafka use `Arrays.equals` to validate a password or key, which is vulnerable to timing attacks that make brute force attacks for such credentials more likely to be successful. Users should upgrade to 2.8.1 or higher, or 3.0.0 or higher where this vulnerability has been fixed. The affected versions include Apache Kafka 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 2.1.1, 2.2.0, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.7.0, 2.7.1, and 2.8.0.","cvss_v4":null,"cvss_v3":{"version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N","score":5.9},"cwes":["CWE-203"],"references":["https://kafka.apache.org/cve-list","https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r26390c8b09ecfa356582d665b0c01f4cdcf16ac047c85f9f9f06a88c%40%3Cdev.kafka.apache.org%3E","https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r26390c8b09ecfa356582d665b0c01f4cdcf16ac047c85f9f9f06a88c%40%3Cusers.kafka.apache.org%3E","https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r35322aec467ddae34002690edaa4d9f16e7df9b5bf7164869b75b62c%40%3Cdev.kafka.apache.org%3E","https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r45cc0602d5f2cbb72e48896dfadf5e5b87ed85630449598b40e8f0be%40%3Cdev.kafka.apache.org%3E"],"products":["apache:kafka","oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine","oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_policy","oracle:financial_services_analytical_applications_infrastructure","oracle:financial_services_behavior_detection_platform","oracle:financial_services_enterprise_case_management","oracle:primavera_unifier","quarkus:quarkus"],"source":"nvd","synced_at":"2026-10-19T21:23:41.316049955+00:00"},"epss":{"cve":"CVE-2021-38153","score":0.06201,"percentile":0.93516,"date":"2026-10-31"},"kev":null,"osv":[{"id":"GHSA-3j6g-hxx5-3q26","url":"https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-3j6g-hxx5-3q26","summary":"Observable Discrepancy in Apache Kafka","modified":"2026-08-07T08:12:11.139035638Z","packages":[{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.11","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.11","ranges":[">=2.0.0 <=2.4.1"],"fixed":[]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.12","ranges":[">=2.0.0 <2.6.3"],"fixed":["2.6.3"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.12","ranges":[">=2.7.0 <2.7.2"],"fixed":["2.7.2"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.12","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.12","ranges":[">=2.8.0 <2.8.1"],"fixed":["2.8.1"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.13","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.13","ranges":[">=2.4.0 <2.6.3"],"fixed":["2.6.3"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.13","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.13","ranges":[">=2.7.0 <2.7.2"],"fixed":["2.7.2"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka_2.13","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka_2.13","ranges":[">=2.8.0 <2.8.1"],"fixed":["2.8.1"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka-clients","ranges":[">=2.0.0 <2.6.3"],"fixed":["2.6.3"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka-clients","ranges":[">=2.7.0 <2.7.2"],"fixed":["2.7.2"]},{"ecosystem":"Maven","name":"org.apache.kafka:kafka-clients","purl":"pkg:maven/org.apache.kafka/kafka-clients","ranges":[">=2.8.0 <2.8.1"],"fixed":["2.8.1"]}]}],"attribution":["This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.","EPSS scores: FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System, https://www.first.org/epss","Known exploited vulnerabilities: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","Package advisories: OSV (https://osv.dev), from the GitHub Advisory Database, PyPA, Go, RustSec and other ecosystem databases, under CC-BY 4.0 or CC0","CVE records: the CVE Program's CVE List (https://www.cve.org), under its terms of use (https://www.cve.org/Legal/TermsOfUse). CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation; this product is not affiliated with the CVE Program."]}