Reference page — cumulative record through Monday, October 19, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2021-32751

CVE-2021-32751HIGH

gradle gradle — Arbitrary code execution via specially crafted environment variables

  AV  AC  PR  UI  S  C  I  A   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   N   H   L   N  U  H  H  H    7.5   .0271   85.7     —

AFFECTED
  Product  Versions  Fixed
  gradle   < 7.2 –   —

TIMELINE
  May 12  Reserved by GitHub_M
  Jul 20  Published (CNA: GitHub_M)
  Oct 8   EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2021-32751 (gradle). Public exploit reference added.

CWE-78 · CNA: GitHub_M · CVSS v3.1 · 3 references · NVD status: Modified

Description

Gradle is a build tool with a focus on build automation. In versions prior to 7.2, start scripts generated by the `application` plugin and the `gradlew` script are both vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when an attacker is able to change environment variables for the user running the script. This may impact those who use `gradlew` on Unix-like systems or use the scripts generated by Gradle in thieir application on Unix-like systems. For this vulnerability to be exploitable, an attacker needs to be able to set the value of particular environment variables and have those environment variables be seen by the vulnerable scripts. This issue has been patched in Gradle 7.2 by removing the use of `eval` and requiring the use of the `bash` shell. There are a few workarounds available. For CI/CD systems using the Gradle build tool, one may ensure that untrusted users are unable to change environment variables for the user that executes `gradlew`. If one is unable to upgrade to Gradle 7.2, one may generate a new `gradlew` script with Gradle 7.2 and use it for older versions of Gradle. Fpplications using start scripts generated by Gradle, one may ensure that untrusted users are unable to change environment variables for the user that executes the start script. A vulnerable start script could be manually patched to remove the use of `eval` or the use of environment variables that affect the application's command-line. If the application is simple enough, one may be able to avoid the use of the start scripts by running the application directly with Java command.

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 3 events, chronological
Date	Event	Detail
May 12, 2021	Reserved	Reserved by GitHub_M
July 20, 2021	Published	Published (CNA: GitHub_M)
October 8, 2026	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2021-32751 (gradle). Public exploit reference added.

Affected

Affected products and packages — 1 row
Vendor	Product / Package	Ecosystem	Version introduced	Fixed
gradle	gradle	—	< 7.2	—

Weaknesses

CWE-78

References (3)

https://github.com/gradle/gradle/security/advisories/GHSA-6j2p-252f-7mw8 [Exploit, Third Party Advisory]
https://medium.com/dot-debug/the-perils-of-bash-eval-cc5f9e309cae [Exploit, Third Party Advisory]
https://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/048 [Exploit, Third Party Advisory]

Authoritative record: CVE-2021-32751 at cve.org

Vendors: gradle

Weaknesses: CWE-78

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2021-32751 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Monday, October 19, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.