# arthepsy/CVE-2021-4034

PoC for PwnKit: Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in polkit’s pkexec (CVE-2021-4034)

Repository: https://github.com/arthepsy/CVE-2021-4034
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/arthepsy-cve-2021-4034
Language: C
License Family: other
Topics: cve, cve-2021-4034, poc
Last push: 2023-05-04T19:24:39+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 1681, "days_push": 1217, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1160, forks 312 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:49.153769+00:00)

## What it is
A proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2021-4034 (PwnKit), a local privilege escalation vulnerability in polkit's pkexec utility. It is a small C program that, when compiled and run on a vulnerable Linux system, escalates the local user to root.

## Use cases
- test if a Linux system is vulnerable to PwnKit CVE-2021-4034
- demonstrate local privilege escalation via pkexec
- verify polkit patching on Debian or CentOS hosts
- reproduce the PwnKit vulnerability in a lab environment
- check pkexec privilege escalation during a security assessment

## When to choose
- you need a simple, verified PoC to test pkexec privilege escalation on Debian 10 or CentOS 7
- you are validating whether systems are patched against CVE-2021-4034
- you want a minimal C exploit to study the PwnKit vulnerability

## When to avoid
- you need a comprehensive vulnerability scanner rather than a single-CVE PoC
- your systems are already patched against CVE-2021-4034
- you require a maintained tool with a license and ongoing updates

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: security, penetration-testing
- domain: security, operating-systems, penetration-testing
- platform: cli
- tags: exploit, poc, privilege-escalation, cve-2021-4034, pwnkit, polkit, pkexec, linux

## Member repositories
- arthepsy/CVE-2021-4034 (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:49.153769+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:31:47.636087+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/arthepsy/CVE-2021-4034 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:49.153769+00:00, sha f018c9c87662)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.