CVE-2021-32647 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2021-32647
Vulnerability Scoring

8.0
/10
Very High Risk

Highly exploitable, CVE-2021-32647 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: High
    Exploits require significant effort and special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: High
    High-level privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2021-32647 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕕 21 Nov 2024, 06:07 UTC
Originally published on: 🕑 01 Jun 2021, 14:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 1268 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

security-advisories@github.com

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2021-32647 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2021-32647: Emissary is a P2P based data-driven workflow engine. Affected versions of Emissary are vulnerable to post-authentication Remote Code Execution (RCE). The [`CreatePlace`](https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/emissary/blob/30c54ef16c6eb6ed09604a929939fb9f66868382/src/main/java/emissary/server/mvc/internal/CreatePlaceAction.java#L36) REST endpoint accepts an `sppClassName` parameter which is used to load an arbitrary class. This class is later instantiated using a constructor with the following signature: `<constructor>(String, String, String)`. An attacker may find a gadget (class) in the application classpath that could be used to achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) or disrupt the application. Even though the chances to find a gadget (class) that allow arbitrary code execution are low, an attacker can still find gadgets that could potentially crash the application or leak sensitive data. As a work around disable network access to Emissary from untrusted sources.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2021-32647

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2021-32647 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2021-32647

The exploitability of CVE-2021-32647 is influenced by multiple factors. Security teams should analyze system configurations and apply appropriate countermeasures to mitigate threats.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2021-32647, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2021-32647, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2021-32647 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2021-32647 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2021-32647 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.556% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 77.88% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 22.120000000000005% of others.

CVE-2021-32647 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-470

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Reflection Injection CAPEC-138 An adversary supplies a value to the target application which is then used by reflection methods to identify a class, method, or field. For example, in the Java programming language the reflection libraries permit an application to inspect, load, and invoke classes and their components by name. If an adversary can control the input into these methods including the name of the class/method/field or the parameters passed to methods, they can cause the targeted application to invoke incorrect methods, read random fields, or even to load and utilize malicious classes that the adversary created. This can lead to the application revealing sensitive information, returning incorrect results, or even having the adversary take control of the targeted application.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:nsa:emissary:6.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:nsa:emissary:6.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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