CVE-2021-28170 Improper Input Validation in Jakarta Expression Language
Attackers can execute arbitrary code by exploiting a parser bug in the Jakarta Expression Language implementation that allows invalid expressions to be evaluated.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2021-28170?
CVE-2021-28170 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy, published on 26 May 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Jakarta Expression Language implementation 3.0.3 and earlier, a bug in the ELParserTokenManager enables invalid EL expressions to be evaluated as if they were valid.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-28170?
6 open source packages ship an affected version, including com.sun.el:el-ri, org.glassfish:jakarta.el and org.glassfish:javax.el. It affects 4 products.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
com.sun.el:el-ri Maven | All versions | 3.0.4 |
com.sun.el:el-ri Maven | All versions | 3.0.4 |
org.glassfish:jakarta.el Maven | All versions | 3.0.4 |
org.glassfish:jakarta.el Maven | All versions | 3.0.4 |
org.glassfish:javax.el Maven | All versions to 3.0.1-b12 | None |
org.glassfish:javax.el Maven | All versions to 3.0.1-b12 | None |
Products include Eclipse Jakarta Expression Language, Oracle Communications Cloud Native Core Policy, Oracle Weblogic Server, Quarkus Quarkus.
How do I fix CVE-2021-28170?
Upgrade com.sun.el:el-ri to 3.0.4 or later.
Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.
Is CVE-2021-28170 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-28170 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as CLSA-2025-1752537768, DEBIAN-CVE-2021-28170, GHSA-v6w3-2prq-h95f, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-28170.