CVE-2021-33881Public exploit

Counter rollback via interrupted RFID writes

Published Jun 6, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Improper counter protection in NXP MIFARE Ultralight and NTAG cards allows physically proximate attackers to reset monotonic counters over RFID. The anti-tearing logic stores a counter in two EEPROM slots and trusts a valid flag while returning the higher slot, allowing timed interrupted increments to create weak bits and force a rollback. The attacker must repeatedly control the reader field and card distance; success can restore a spent ticket or bypass another application control that relies on the counter.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.41%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper counter protection in NXP MIFARE Ultralight and NTAG cards allows physically proximate attackers to reset monotonic counters over RFID. The anti-tearing logic stores a counter in two EEPROM slots and trusts a valid flag while returning the higher slot, allowing timed interrupted increments to create weak bits and force a rollback. The attacker must repeatedly control the reader field and card distance; success can restore a spent ticket or bypass another application control that relies on the counter.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-33881
Published
Jun 6, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
Unavailable
Attack vector
physical
Privileges
Unavailable

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 6, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorphysical
Required privilegesUnavailable in this record.

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorphysical
PrivilegesUnavailable
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

No sourced classifications are available.

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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