CVE-2021-38163SAP NetWeaver Unrestricted File Upload Vulnerability
CVE-2021-38163 is a path traversal in SAP NetWeaver, rated high (8.8 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
A file name from the request can climb out of the intended folder with sequences like ../, reaching files the service never meant to expose.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker read or write files outside the folders the service meant to expose.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-06-09: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 37% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 99% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2022-06-30.
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place SAP NetWeaver runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- While there is no fix, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
SAP NetWeaver (Visual Composer 7.0 RT) versions - 7.30, 7.31, 7.40, 7.50, without restriction, an attacker authenticated as a non-administrative user can upload a malicious file over a network and trigger its processing, which is capable of running operating system commands with the privilege of the Java Server process. These commands can be used to read or modify any information on the server or shut the server down making it unavailable.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- File storage the service can read or write. The flaw sits between the application and the file system it can reach.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- Between the application and the file system it can reach. An attacker who crosses it can read or write files outside the folders the service meant to expose.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does SAP NetWeaver run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.