CVE-2021-28543
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service ...
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon restart) in some configurations. This does not affect organizations that only install the Varnish Cache product; however, it is common to install both Varnish Cache and varnish-modules. Specifically, an assertion failure or NULL pointer dereference can be triggered in Varnish Cache through the varnish-modules header.append() and header.copy() functions. For some Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) files, this gives remote clients an opportunity to cause a Varnish Cache restart. A restart reduces overall availability and performance due to an increased number of cache misses, and may cause higher load on backend servers.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
4.0
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon restart) in some configurations. This does not affect organizations that only install the Varnish Cache product; however, it is common to install both Varnish Cache and varnish-modules. Specifically, an assertion failure or NULL pointer dereference can be triggered in Varnish Cache through the varnish-modules header.append() and header.copy() functions. For some Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) files, this gives remote clients an opportunity to cause a Varnish Cache restart. A restart reduces overall availability and performance due to an increased number of cache misses, and may cause higher load on backend servers.
- Record
CVE-2021-28543- CVSS 3.1
- 4.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AC:H/AV:N/A:L/C:N/I:N/PR:N/S:C/UI:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-15219
4.0
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon restart) in some configurations. This does not affect organizations that only install the Varnish Cache product; however, it is common to install both Varnish Cache and varnish-modules. Specifically, an assertion failure or NULL pointer dereference can be triggered in Varnish Cache through the varnish-modules header.append() and header.copy() functions. For some Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) files, this gives remote clients an opportunity to cause a Varnish Cache restart. A restart reduces overall availability and performance due to an increased number of cache misses, and may cause higher load on backend servers.
- Record
EUVD-2021-15219- CVSS 3.1
- 4.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AC:H/AV:N/A:L/C:N/I:N/PR:N/S:C/UI:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-jpm5-7xh4-qgjv
7.5
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service ...
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon restart) in some configurations. This does not affect organizations that only install the Varnish Cache product; however, it is common to install both Varnish Cache and varnish-modules. Specifically, an assertion failure or NULL pointer dereference can be triggered in Varnish Cache through the varnish-modules header.append() and header.copy() functions. For some Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) files, this gives remote clients an opportunity to cause a Varnish Cache restart. A restart reduces overall availability and performance due to an increased number of cache misses, and may cause higher load on backend servers.
- Record
GHSA-jpm5-7xh4-qgjv- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-476
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
4.0
Varnish varnish-modules before 0.17.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon restart) in some configurations. This does not affect organizations that only install the Varnish Cache product; however, it is common to install both Varnish Cache and varnish-modules. Specifically, an assertion failure or NULL pointer dereference can be triggered in Varnish Cache through the varnish-modules header.append() and header.copy() functions. For some Varnish Configuration Language (VCL) files, this gives remote clients an opportunity to cause a Varnish Cache restart. A restart reduces overall availability and performance due to an increased number of cache misses, and may cause higher load on backend servers.
- Record
CVE-2021-28543- CVSS 3.1
- 4.0 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-476, CWE-617
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-28543 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.0) in Varnish-cache Varnish-modules, published March 16, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.49%, the 74th percentile. No source names a fixed version.
References
varnish-cache.org/security/VSV00006.html
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/OPFBRQUJNWHCB3GQHSSAPRLQU6Q6PY43
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-28543
lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/OPFBRQUJNWHCB3GQHSSAPRLQU6Q6PY43
github.com/advisories/GHSA-jpm5-7xh4-qgjv