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Tor CVE-2021-28089

HIGH
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400)
2021-03-19 cve@mitre.org
7.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Resource consumption limits
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could cause denial of service by exhausting system resources by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 1.7% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Tor before 0.4.5.7 allows a remote participant in the Tor directory protocol to exhaust CPU resources on a target, aka TROVE-2021-001. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Implement rate limiting, set resource quotas, validate input sizes, use timeouts.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400), which allows attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting system resources. Tor before 0.4.5.7 allows a remote participant in the Tor directory protocol to exhaust CPU resources on a target, aka TROVE-2021-001. Affected products include: Torproject Tor, Fedoraproject Fedora. Version information: before 0.4.5.7.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

Tor before 0.4.5.7 allows a remote participant in the Tor directory protocol to exhaust CPU resources on a target, aka TROVE-2021-001.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.7%
Top 26% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.7%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

40
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +2
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:0.4.4.0:alpha:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:0.4.4.1:alpha:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:0.4.4.2:alpha:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:torproject:tor:0.4.4.3:alpha:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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