# CVE-2021-32753: Hardcoded credentials in edgex-go

> Remote attackers can obtain authentication tokens via dictionary attacks due to weak credentials in EdgeX Foundry's API gateway when OAuth2 is enabled.

- **Severity:** High 8.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Jul 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xph4-vmcc-52gh

## What is CVE-2021-32753?

CVE-2021-32753 is a high-severity vulnerability in edgexfoundry edgex-go, published on 9 Jul 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

EdgeX Foundry is an open source project for building a common open framework for internet-of-things edge computing. A vulnerability exists in the Edinburgh, Fuji, Geneva, and Hanoi versions of the software. When the EdgeX API gateway is configured for OAuth2 authentication and a proxy user is created, the client_id and client_secret required to obtain an OAuth2 authentication token are set to the username of the proxy user. A remote network attacker can then perform a dictionary-based password attack on the OAuth2 token endpoint of the API gateway to obtain an OAuth2 authentication token and use that token to make authenticated calls to EdgeX microservices from an untrusted network. OAuth2 is the default authentication method in EdgeX Edinburgh release. The default authentication method was changed to JWT in Fuji and later releases. Users should upgrade to the EdgeX Ireland release to obtain the fix. The OAuth2 authentication method is disabled in Ireland release. If unable to upgrade and OAuth2 authentication is required, users should create OAuth2 users directly using the Kong admin API and forgo the use of the `security-proxy-setup` tool to create OAuth2 users.

Weakness: CWE-521 (Weak Password Requirements), CWE-287 (Improper Authentication), CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-32753?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Edgexfoundry Edgex Foundry.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-32753?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-32753 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-32753 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32753 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in edgexfoundry edgex-go

- [CVE-2022-31066](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31066/): Configuration API in EdgeXFoundry exposes message bus credentials to local unauthenticated users (medium 5.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-32753 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-32753 is a high-severity vulnerability in edgexfoundry edgex-go, published on 9 Jul 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32753 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: edgexfoundry edgex-go. 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-2021-32753/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32753/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-32753
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32753
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-32753

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32753/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.