CVE-2021-37941 (GCVE-0-2021-37941)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2021-12-08 21:15 – Updated: 2024-08-04 01:30
VLAI
Summary
A local privilege escalation issue was found with the APM Java agent, where a user on the system could attach a malicious file to an application running with the APM Java agent. Using this vector, a malicious or compromised user account could use the agent to run commands at a higher level of permissions than they possess. This vulnerability affects users that have set up the agent via the attacher cli 3, the attach API 2, as well as users that have enabled the profiling_inferred_spans_enabled option
CWE
Assigner
elastic CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard C 69/100 over 155 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
Elastic APM Java Agent Affected: 1.10.0 through 1.26.0
guessed Create a notification for this product.
Show details on NVD website

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2024-08-04T01:30:08.522Z",
          "orgId": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "shortName": "CVE"
        },
        "references": [
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_refsource_MISC",
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apm-java-agent-security-update/289627"
          }
        ],
        "title": "CVE Program Container"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "APM Java Agent",
          "vendor": "Elastic",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "1.10.0 through 1.26.0"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "A local privilege escalation issue was found with the APM Java agent, where a user on the system could attach a malicious file to an application running with the APM Java agent. Using this vector, a malicious or compromised user account could use the agent to run commands at a higher level of permissions than they possess. This vulnerability affects users that have set up the agent via the attacher cli 3, the attach API 2, as well as users that have enabled the profiling_inferred_spans_enabled option"
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-269",
              "description": "CWE-269",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2021-12-08T21:15:19.000Z",
        "orgId": "271b6943-45a9-4f3a-ab4e-976f3fa05b5a",
        "shortName": "elastic"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
          ],
          "url": "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apm-java-agent-security-update/289627"
        }
      ],
      "x_legacyV4Record": {
        "CVE_data_meta": {
          "ASSIGNER": "security@elastic.co",
          "ID": "CVE-2021-37941",
          "STATE": "PUBLIC"
        },
        "affects": {
          "vendor": {
            "vendor_data": [
              {
                "product": {
                  "product_data": [
                    {
                      "product_name": "APM Java Agent",
                      "version": {
                        "version_data": [
                          {
                            "version_value": "1.10.0 through 1.26.0"
                          }
                        ]
                      }
                    }
                  ]
                },
                "vendor_name": "Elastic"
              }
            ]
          }
        },
        "data_format": "MITRE",
        "data_type": "CVE",
        "data_version": "4.0",
        "description": {
          "description_data": [
            {
              "lang": "eng",
              "value": "A local privilege escalation issue was found with the APM Java agent, where a user on the system could attach a malicious file to an application running with the APM Java agent. Using this vector, a malicious or compromised user account could use the agent to run commands at a higher level of permissions than they possess. This vulnerability affects users that have set up the agent via the attacher cli 3, the attach API 2, as well as users that have enabled the profiling_inferred_spans_enabled option"
            }
          ]
        },
        "problemtype": {
          "problemtype_data": [
            {
              "description": [
                {
                  "lang": "eng",
                  "value": "CWE-269"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        "references": {
          "reference_data": [
            {
              "name": "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apm-java-agent-security-update/289627",
              "refsource": "MISC",
              "url": "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apm-java-agent-security-update/289627"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "271b6943-45a9-4f3a-ab4e-976f3fa05b5a",
    "assignerShortName": "elastic",
    "cveId": "CVE-2021-37941",
    "datePublished": "2021-12-08T21:15:19.000Z",
    "dateReserved": "2021-08-03T00:00:00.000Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2024-08-04T01:30:08.522Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.1",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
    "epss": {
      "cve": "CVE-2021-37941",
      "date": "2026-10-21",
      "epss": "0.00214",
      "percentile": "0.11172"
    },
    "nvd": {
      "cve": {
        "configurations": [
          {
            "nodes": [
              {
                "cpeMatch": [
                  {
                    "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:elastic:apm_agent:*:*:*:*:*:java:*:*",
                    "matchCriteriaId": "0C491DFB-BE96-42E3-A4A5-F7A03E61735A",
                    "versionEndIncluding": "1.26.0",
                    "versionStartIncluding": "1.10.0",
                    "vulnerable": true
                  }
                ],
                "negate": false,
                "operator": "OR"
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "A local privilege escalation issue was found with the APM Java agent, where a user on the system could attach a malicious file to an application running with the APM Java agent. Using this vector, a malicious or compromised user account could use the agent to run commands at a higher level of permissions than they possess. This vulnerability affects users that have set up the agent via the attacher cli 3, the attach API 2, as well as users that have enabled the profiling_inferred_spans_enabled option"
          },
          {
            "lang": "es",
            "value": "Se encontr\u00f3 un problema de escalada de privilegios local con el agente Java de APM, donde un usuario en el sistema podr\u00eda adjuntar un archivo malicioso a una aplicaci\u00f3n que es ejecutada con el agente Java de APM. Usando este vector, una cuenta de usuario maliciosa o comprometida podr\u00eda usar el agente para ejecutar comandos con un nivel de permisos superior al que posee. Esta vulnerabilidad afecta a los usuarios que han configurado el agente por medio del attacher cli 3, el attach API 2, as\u00ed como a usuarios que han habilitado la opci\u00f3n profiling_inferred_spans_enabled"
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2021-37941",
        "lastModified": "2024-11-21T06:16:07.073",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV2": [
            {
              "acInsufInfo": false,
              "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
              "cvssData": {
                "accessComplexity": "MEDIUM",
                "accessVector": "LOCAL",
                "authentication": "NONE",
                "availabilityImpact": "PARTIAL",
                "baseScore": 4.4,
                "confidentialityImpact": "PARTIAL",
                "integrityImpact": "PARTIAL",
                "vectorString": "AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P",
                "version": "2.0"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 3.4,
              "impactScore": 6.4,
              "obtainAllPrivilege": false,
              "obtainOtherPrivilege": false,
              "obtainUserPrivilege": false,
              "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
              "type": "Primary",
              "userInteractionRequired": false
            }
          ],
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackVector": "LOCAL",
                "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "baseScore": 7.8,
                "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
                "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
                "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 1.8,
              "impactScore": 5.9,
              "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
              "type": "Primary"
            }
          ]
        },
        "published": "2021-12-08T22:15:08.677",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "security@elastic.co",
            "tags": [
              "Vendor Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apm-java-agent-security-update/289627"
          },
          {
            "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
            "tags": [
              "Vendor Advisory"
            ],
            "url": "https://discuss.elastic.co/t/apm-java-agent-security-update/289627"
          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "security@elastic.co",
        "vulnStatus": "Modified",
        "weaknesses": [
          {
            "description": [
              {
                "lang": "en",
                "value": "CWE-269"
              }
            ],
            "source": "security@elastic.co",
            "type": "Secondary"
          },
          {
            "description": [
              {
                "lang": "en",
                "value": "CWE-269"
              }
            ],
            "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
            "type": "Primary"
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "redhat_vex": {
      "current_release_date": "2026-03-27T13:43:56+00:00",
      "cve": "CVE-2021-37941",
      "id": "CVE-2021-37941",
      "initial_release_date": "2021-01-01T00:00:00+00:00",
      "product_status:known_not_affected": "1",
      "source": "Red Hat CSAF VEX",
      "status": "final",
      "title": "CVE-2021-37941",
      "url": "https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2021/cve-2021-37941.json",
      "version": "3"
    }
  }
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.


Loading…

Loading…

Loading…

Drag nodes to arrange them. Double-click a related vulnerability to open it, or a source to visit its link. The Physics button on the left tunes the layout and the simulation; the legend at the bottom left hides or shows nodes by kind and by sighting type.

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

JSON
Events included in the timeline

Loading timeline…


    Loading…

    Loading…

    Loading…

    Related by attack behaviour

    Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.