CVE-2021-22204 — ExifTool Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Overview
Improper neutralization of user data in the DjVu file format in Exiftool versions 7.44 and up allows arbitrary code execution when parsing the malicious image
Vulnerability details
- CVE ID
- CVE-2021-22204
- Vulnerability
- ExifTool Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- Vendor
- Perl
- Affected products
- Perl: Exiftool
- Severity
- HIGH
- Exploitation status
- Actively exploited in the wild (CISA KEV)
- Published
- 2021-11-17
Remediation guidance
CVE-2021-22204 is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog — U.S. federal civilian agencies are required to remediate it under Binding Operational Directive 22-01. Treat it as a priority for every environment.
Apply the vendor's official security update for Perl the affected product as soon as possible. Where a patch is unavailable, apply vendor mitigations or isolate/segment exposed systems.
Hunt for indicators of compromise tied to this vulnerability and confirm logging/EDR coverage on affected assets.
Authoritative references
Remediate CVE-2021-22204 — and stay ahead of the next one
CVE-2021-22204 is listed in the CISA KEV catalog as actively exploited — treat remediation as urgent. Scan your domain free to see whether CVE-2021-22204 and other Perl issues affect you and get a prioritized remediation report (full report from ₹999) — or stream the full feed of 1,600+ actively-exploited CVEs straight into your SOC.
📡 Get a free alert the moment a CVE like this lands in the KEV catalog → Join Sentinel APEX on Telegram