# CVE-2021-3494: Security feature bypass in foreman

> An attacker can bypass SSL certificate validation in the Foreman smart proxy FreeIPA module to perform unauthorized actions and access sensitive data.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Apr 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3wj7-9qg6-8h3x

## What is CVE-2021-3494?

CVE-2021-3494 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Theforeman Foreman, published on 26 Apr 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A smart proxy that provides a restful API to various sub-systems of the Foreman is affected by the flaw which can cause a Man-in-the-Middle attack. The FreeIPA module of Foreman smart proxy does not check the SSL certificate, thus, an unauthenticated attacker can perform actions in FreeIPA if certain conditions are met. The highest threat from this flaw is to system confidentiality. This flaw affects Foreman versions before 2.5.0.

Weakness: CWE-319 (Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3494?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Theforeman Foreman.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3494?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2021-3494 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3494 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Theforeman Foreman

- [CVE-2018-14643](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14643/): smart_proxy_dynflow gem authentication bypass in Foreman remote execution feature (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-7505](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7505/): Missing authorization in foreman (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2016-4475](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4475/): Missing authorization in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2016-3728](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3728/): Code injection in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2015-5246](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5246/): Auth bypass in n/a (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3494 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3494 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Theforeman Foreman, published on 26 Apr 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-2021-3494 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Theforeman Foreman. 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-2021-3494/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3494/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3494
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3494
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3494

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3494/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.