CVE-2021-21028: Acs aem commons Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-f92j-qf46-p6vm
Share
CWE-79 CWE-416
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-21028 is a HIGH cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')) affecting Acs aem commons libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves reflected cross-site scripting in acs commons. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.10.0.

CVE-2021-21028 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-21028
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f92j-qf46-p6vm
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Affected Product Acs aem commons
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2021-21028

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

com.adobe.acs:acs-aem-commons fixed: 4.10.0 
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.adobe.acs</groupId>
    <artifactId>acs-aem-commons</artifactId>
    <version>4.10.0</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=com.adobe.acs

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-21028, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.adobe.acs

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Acs aem commons in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.10.0), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.adobe.acs 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-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting'), where the product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. In Acs aem commons, 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

### Impact ACS Commons version 4.9.2 (and earlier) suffers from a Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in version-compare and page-compare due to invalid JCR characters that are not handled correctly. An attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to inject malicious JavaScript content into vulnerable form fields and execute it within the context of the victim's browser. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in order to be successful. ### Patches This issue has been resolved in v4.10.0 ### Workarounds No workaround exist. ### References N/A ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory open an issue in acs-aem-commons. ### Credit This issue was discovered and reported by Christopher Whipp (Christopher.Whipp@servicesaustralia.gov.au).

CVE-2021-21028 Affected Acs aem commons Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.10.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
com.adobe.acs:acs-aem-commons
maven/com.adobe.acs/acs-aem-commons
Maven
< 4.10.0
4.10.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/Adobe-Consulting-Services/acs-aem-commons/security/advisories/GHSA-f92j-qf46-p6vm
NVD — CVE-2021-21028 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21028
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/Adobe-Consulting-Services/acs-aem-commons/commit/14d769c86606c4ce9a93c47a19f87e1ad72788d6
Acs aem commons Security Information SECURITY
https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-09.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-21028?
CVE-2021-21028 is a security vulnerability in Acs aem commons involving Reflected Cross-site Scripting in ACS Commons under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting').
Which Acs aem commons versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.10.0 across affected packages: com.adobe.acs:acs-aem-commons.
What version fixes CVE-2021-21028?
Upgrading to 4.10.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is acs-aem-commons affected?
Yes, com.adobe.acs:acs-aem-commons is affected in releases prior to 4.10.0. Upgrade your dependency to 4.10.0 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-21028?
CVE-2021-21028 is classified under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') (The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-21028?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.adobe.acs'. 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-f92j-qf46-p6vm",
  "modified" : "2021-02-02T15:34:21Z",
  "published" : "2021-02-02T15:46:52Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-21028" ],
  "summary" : "Reflected Cross-site Scripting in ACS Commons",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nACS Commons version 4.9.2 (and earlier) suffers from a Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in version-compare and page-compare due to invalid JCR characters that are not handled correctly.\n\nAn attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to inject malicious JavaScript content into vulnerable form fields and execute it within the context of the victim's browser. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in order to be successful.\n\n### Patches\n\nThis issue has been resolved in v4.10.0\n\n### Workarounds\n\nNo workaround exist.\n\n### References\n\nN/A\n\n### For more information\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory open an issue in acs-aem-commons.\n\n### Credit\n\nThis issue was discovered and reported by Christopher Whipp (Christopher.Whipp@servicesaustralia.gov.au).",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "com.adobe.acs:acs-aem-commons"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.10.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Adobe-Consulting-Services/acs-aem-commons/security/advisories/GHSA-f92j-qf46-p6vm"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21028"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Adobe-Consulting-Services/acs-aem-commons/commit/14d769c86606c4ce9a93c47a19f87e1ad72788d6"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/acrobat/apsb21-09.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-416", "CWE-79" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2021-02-02T15:34:21Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-02-11T20:15:00Z"
  }
}