CVE-2021-28164: Jetty webapp Authorization Before Parsing And Canonicalization Vulnerability

Q: What is CVE-2021-28164?

CVE-2021-28164 is a security vulnerability in Jetty webapp involving Authorization Before Parsing and Canonicalization in jetty under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.

Q: Which Jetty webapp versions are affected?

Affected versions include releases prior to 9.4.39 across affected packages: org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp.

Q: What version fixes CVE-2021-28164?

Upgrading to 9.4.39 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.

Q: Is jetty-webapp affected?

Yes, org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp is affected in releases prior to 9.4.39. Upgrade your dependency to 9.4.39 or later.

Q: What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-28164?

CVE-2021-28164 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.

Q: What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-28164?

CVE-2021-28164 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).

Q: How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-28164?

Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.eclipse.jetty'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.

MODERATE

Advisory Identifier: GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5

CVSS 5.3

CWE-200 CWE-863 CWE-551

Published 2021-04-06

Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-28164 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) authorization before parsing and canonicalization vulnerability (CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) affecting Jetty webapp libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves authorization before parsing and canonicalization in jetty. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 9.4.39.

CVE-2021-28164 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-28164

GHSA Identifier GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5

Severity MODERATE

CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.3

CWE Classification CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Affected Product Jetty webapp

Package Ecosystem Maven

Published Date 2021-04-06

Last Updated 2022-04-17

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.3

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)

Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)

Privileges Required None (PR:N)

User Interaction None (UI:N)

Scope Unchanged (S:U)

Confidentiality Low (C:L)

Integrity None (I:N)

Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2021-28164

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Jetty webapp dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp fixed: 9.4.39

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.eclipse.jetty</groupId>
    <artifactId>jetty-webapp</artifactId>
    <version>9.4.39</version>
</dependency>

Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.eclipse.jetty

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-28164, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.eclipse.jetty

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Jetty webapp in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 9.4.39), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.eclipse.jetty command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor, where the product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. In Jetty webapp, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Release 9.4.37 introduced a more precise implementation of [RFC3986](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986#section-3.3) with regards to URI decoding, together with some new compliance modes to optionally allow support of some URI that may have ambiguous interpretation within the Servlet specified API methods behaviours. The default mode allowed % encoded . characters to be excluded for URI normalisation, which is correct by the RFC, but is not assumed by common Servlet implementations. The default compliance mode allows requests with URIs that contain `%2e` or `%2e%2e` segments to access protected resources within the `WEB-INF` directory. For example a request to `/context/%2e/WEB-INF/web.xml` can retrieve the `web.xml` file. This can reveal sensitive information regarding the implementation of a web application. Workarounds found by HttpCompliance mode RFC7230_NO_AMBIGUOUS_URIS can be enabled by updating `start.d/http.ini` to include: jetty.http.compliance=RFC7230_NO_AMBIGUOUS_URIS.

CVE-2021-28164 Affected Jetty webapp Versions

1 component(s)

Fixed Versions:

9.4.39

Product / Package	Ecosystem	Affected Versions	Fixed Version
org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp maven/org.eclipse.jetty/jetty-webapp	Maven	≥ 9.4.37 < 9.4.39	9.4.39

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY

https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project/security/advisories/GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5

NVD — CVE-2021-28164 NVD

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-28164

Jetty webapp Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html

Jetty webapp Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html

Jetty webapp Security Information SECURITY

https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html

Jetty webapp Security Information SECURITY

https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210611-0006

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd7c8fb... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd7c8fb305a8637480dc943ba08424c8992dccad018cd1405eb2afe0e@%3Cdev.ignite.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd04712... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd0471252aeb3384c3cfa6d131374646d4641b80dd313e7b476c47a9c@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rcea249... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rcea249eb7a0d243f21696e4985de33f3780399bf7b31ea1f6d489b8b@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbc075a... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbc075a4ac85e7a8e47420b7383f16ffa0af3b792b8423584735f369f@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9974f6... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9974f64723875052e02787b2a5eda689ac5247c71b827d455e5dc9a6@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r90e7b4... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r90e7b4c42a96d74c219e448bee6a329ab0cd3205c44b63471d96c3ab@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8e6c11... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8e6c116628c1277c3cf132012a66c46a0863fa2a3037c0707d4640d4@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r7dd079... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r7dd079fa0ac6f47ba1ad0af98d7d0276547b8a4e005f034fb1016951@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r780c3c... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r780c3c210a05c5bf7b4671303f46afc3fe56758e92864e1a5f0590d0@%3Cjira.kafka.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r763840... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r763840320a80e515331cbc1e613fa93f25faf62e991974171a325c82@%3Cdev.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6ac9e2... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6ac9e263129328c0db9940d72b4a6062e703c58918dd34bd22cdf8dd@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r5b3693... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r5b3693da7ecb8a75c0e930b4ca26a5f97aa0207d9dae4aa8cc65fe6b@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4b1fef... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4b1fef117bccc7f5fd4c45fd2cabc26838df823fe5ca94bc42a4fd46@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4a66bf... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4a66bfbf62281e31bc1345ebecbfd96f35199eecd77bfe4e903e906f@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3c55b0... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3c55b0baa4dc38958ae147b2f216e212605f1071297f845e14477d36@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2ea2f0... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2ea2f0541121f17e470a0184843720046c59d4bde6d42bf5ca6fad81@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2a3ea2... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2a3ea27cca2ac7352d392b023b72e824387bc9ff16ba245ec663bdc6@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r111f1c... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r111f1ce28b133a8090ca4f809a1bdf18a777426fc058dc3a16c39c66@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E

lists.apache.org/thread.html/r0841b0... WEB

https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r0841b06b48324cfc81325de3c05a92e53f997185f9d71ff47734d961@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E

Jetty webapp Source Repository REPOSITORY

https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project

Jetty webapp Security Information SECURITY

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164590/Jetty-9.4.37.v20210219-Information-Disclosure.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-28164?

CVE-2021-28164 is a security vulnerability in Jetty webapp involving Authorization Before Parsing and Canonicalization in jetty under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor.

Which Jetty webapp versions are affected?

Affected versions include releases prior to 9.4.39 across affected packages: org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp.

What version fixes CVE-2021-28164?

Upgrading to 9.4.39 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.

Is jetty-webapp affected?

Yes, org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp is affected in releases prior to 9.4.39. Upgrade your dependency to 9.4.39 or later.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-28164?

CVE-2021-28164 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.

What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-28164?

CVE-2021-28164 is classified under CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor (The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.).

How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-28164?

Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.eclipse.jetty'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.

Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema

Normalized schema output

View Raw JSON

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5",
  "modified" : "2022-04-17T16:45:25Z",
  "published" : "2021-04-06T17:31:01Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-28164" ],
  "summary" : "Authorization Before Parsing and Canonicalization in jetty",
  "details" : "Release 9.4.37 introduced a more precise implementation of [RFC3986](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986#section-3.3) with regards to URI decoding, together with some new compliance modes to optionally allow support of some URI that may have ambiguous interpretation within the Servlet specified API methods behaviours.   The default mode allowed % encoded . characters to be excluded for URI normalisation, which is correct by the RFC, but is not assumed by common Servlet implementations. The default compliance mode allows requests with URIs that contain `%2e` or `%2e%2e` segments to access protected resources within the `WEB-INF` directory.  For example a request to `/context/%2e/WEB-INF/web.xml` can retrieve the `web.xml` file.  This can reveal sensitive information regarding the implementation of a web application. Workarounds found by HttpCompliance mode RFC7230_NO_AMBIGUOUS_URIS can be enabled by updating `start.d/http.ini` to include: jetty.http.compliance=RFC7230_NO_AMBIGUOUS_URIS.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-webapp"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "9.4.37"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "9.4.39"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project/security/advisories/GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-28164"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20210611-0006"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd7c8fb305a8637480dc943ba08424c8992dccad018cd1405eb2afe0e@%3Cdev.ignite.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rd0471252aeb3384c3cfa6d131374646d4641b80dd313e7b476c47a9c@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rcea249eb7a0d243f21696e4985de33f3780399bf7b31ea1f6d489b8b@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rbc075a4ac85e7a8e47420b7383f16ffa0af3b792b8423584735f369f@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r9974f64723875052e02787b2a5eda689ac5247c71b827d455e5dc9a6@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r90e7b4c42a96d74c219e448bee6a329ab0cd3205c44b63471d96c3ab@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r8e6c116628c1277c3cf132012a66c46a0863fa2a3037c0707d4640d4@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r7dd079fa0ac6f47ba1ad0af98d7d0276547b8a4e005f034fb1016951@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r780c3c210a05c5bf7b4671303f46afc3fe56758e92864e1a5f0590d0@%3Cjira.kafka.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r763840320a80e515331cbc1e613fa93f25faf62e991974171a325c82@%3Cdev.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r6ac9e263129328c0db9940d72b4a6062e703c58918dd34bd22cdf8dd@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r5b3693da7ecb8a75c0e930b4ca26a5f97aa0207d9dae4aa8cc65fe6b@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4b1fef117bccc7f5fd4c45fd2cabc26838df823fe5ca94bc42a4fd46@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r4a66bfbf62281e31bc1345ebecbfd96f35199eecd77bfe4e903e906f@%3Cissues.ignite.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r3c55b0baa4dc38958ae147b2f216e212605f1071297f845e14477d36@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2ea2f0541121f17e470a0184843720046c59d4bde6d42bf5ca6fad81@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r2a3ea27cca2ac7352d392b023b72e824387bc9ff16ba245ec663bdc6@%3Cissues.zookeeper.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r111f1ce28b133a8090ca4f809a1bdf18a777426fc058dc3a16c39c66@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r0841b06b48324cfc81325de3c05a92e53f997185f9d71ff47734d961@%3Cissues.solr.apache.org%3E"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/eclipse/jetty.project"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164590/Jetty-9.4.37.v20210219-Information-Disclosure.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-200", "CWE-551", "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-04-02T20:28:10Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-04-01T15:15:00Z"
  }
}

CVSS V3

5.3 MODERATE

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)

Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)

Privileges Required None (PR:N)

User Interaction None (UI:N)

Scope Unchanged (S:U)

Confidentiality Low (C:L)

Integrity None (I:N)

Availability None (A:N)

Vector String

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

Advisory Metadata

Source ID: GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5
Schema Version: 1.4.0
Published: 2021-04-06 17:31
Last Modified: 2022-04-17 16:45
Database Record File: advisories/github-reviewed/2021/04/GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5/GHSA-v7ff-8wcx-gmc5.json