# CVE-2021-25276: Privilege escalation in n/a

> An unprivileged local user can escalate privileges to LocalSystem by exploiting world-readable and writable user profile directories in SolarWinds Serv-U.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 Feb 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j64g-p5ch-94rp

## What is CVE-2021-25276?

CVE-2021-25276 is a high-severity vulnerability in Solarwinds Serv-U, published on 3 Feb 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In SolarWinds Serv-U before 15.2.2 Hotfix 1, there is a directory containing user profile files (that include users' password hashes) that is world readable and writable. An unprivileged Windows user (having access to the server's filesystem) can add an FTP user by copying a valid profile file to this directory. For example, if this profile sets up a user with a C:\ home directory, then the attacker obtains access to read or replace arbitrary files with LocalSystem privileges.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-25276?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Serv-U.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-25276?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-25276 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-25276 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-25276 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Solarwinds Serv-U

- [CVE-2021-35211](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35211/): SolarWinds Serv-U Remote Code Execution (critical 9.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-28995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-28995/): SolarWinds Serv-U Path Traversal Vulnerability (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-28318](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28318/): SolarWinds Serv-U Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (high 7.5, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-35247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35247/): SolarWinds Serv-U Improper Input Validation (medium 4.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-35481](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35481/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-25276 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-25276 is a high-severity vulnerability in Solarwinds Serv-U, published on 3 Feb 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-25276 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Solarwinds Serv-U. 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-2021-25276/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25276/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-25276
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25276
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-25276

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25276/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.