CVE-2021-32647 Post-authentication Remote Code Execution (RCE) in emissary:emissary
Post-authentication attackers can achieve remote code execution or denial of service by loading arbitrary classes via the CreatePlace endpoint.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2021-32647?
CVE-2021-32647 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in NationalSecurityAgency emissary, published on 28 May 2021. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Emissary is a P2P based data-driven workflow engine. Affected versions of Emissary are vulnerable to post-authentication Remote Code Execution (RCE). The [`CreatePlace`](https://github.com/NationalSecurityAgency/emissary/blob/30c54ef16c6eb6ed09604a929939fb9f66868382/src/main/java/emissary/server/mvc/internal/CreatePlaceAction.java#L36) REST endpoint accepts an `sppClassName` parameter which is used to load an arbitrary class. This class is later instantiated using a constructor with the following signature: `<constructor>(String, String, String)`. An attacker may find a gadget (class) in the application classpath that could be used to achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) or disrupt the application. Even though the chances to find a gadget (class) that allow arbitrary code execution are low, an attacker can still find gadgets that could potentially crash the application or leak sensitive data. As a work around disable network access to Emissary from untrusted sources.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-32647?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Nsa Emissary.
How do I fix CVE-2021-32647?
No fix has been published for CVE-2021-32647 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.
Is CVE-2021-32647 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32647 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in NationalSecurityAgency emissary
- CVE-2026-35580 Emissary has GitHub Actions Shell Injection via Workflow Inputs
- CVE-2026-35582 Emissary has an OS Command Injection via Unvalidated IN_FILE_ENDING / OUT_FILE_ENDING in Executrix
- CVE-2021-32094 File upload in n/a
- CVE-2021-32096 Cross-site request forgery in n/a
- CVE-2021-32095 Missing authorization in n/a
Sources
Also known as GHSA-ph73-7v9r-wg32.