# CVE-2021-21542: Cross-site scripting in Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)

> Remote authenticated attackers can inject malicious scripts into iDRAC9 certificate generation, leading to code execution in victim browsers.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Apr 2021
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7q5c-73vg-wcgj

## What is CVE-2021-21542?

CVE-2021-21542 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC), published on 30 Apr 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Dell EMC iDRAC9 versions prior to 4.40.10.00 contain multiple stored cross-site scripting vulnerabilities. A remote authenticated malicious user with high privileges could potentially exploit these vulnerabilities to store malicious HTML or JavaScript code through multiple affected while generating a certificate. When victim users access the submitted data through their browsers, the malicious code gets executed by the web browser in the context of the vulnerable application.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-21542?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Dell Idrac9 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-21542?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-21542 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-21542 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)

- [CVE-2021-21538](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21538/): Auth bypass in Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) (critical 9.6)
- [CVE-2019-3706](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3706/): Web Interface Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2019-3707](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-3707/): WS-MAN Authentication Bypass Vulnerability (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2020-5366](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5366/): Path traversal in Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2018-1249](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1249/): Security feature bypass in iDRAC9 (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-21542 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-21542 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC), published on 30 Apr 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-21542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC). No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21542/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21542/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-21542
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-21542
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-21542

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21542/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.