# CVE-2021-3509: Cross-site scripting in ceph-dashboard

> An XSS vulnerability in the Ceph Dashboard allows attackers to access JWT tokens exposed in documentation responses, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 May 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3509, GHSA-g9cr-7jh8-qrmx, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3509

## What is CVE-2021-3509?

CVE-2021-3509 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in ceph-dashboard, published on 26 May 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A flaw was found in Red Hat Ceph Storage 4, in the Dashboard component. In response to CVE-2020-27839, the JWT token was moved from localStorage to an httpOnly cookie. However, token cookies are used in the body of the HTTP response for the documentation, which again makes it available to XSS.The greatest threat to the system is for confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3509?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Ceph Storage.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3509?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-3509 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3509 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in ceph-dashboard

- [CVE-2022-3854](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3854/): Null dereference in ceph (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2019-19337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-19337/): Denial of service in Ceph Storage (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2016-9579](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9579/): Denial of service in ceph (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3509 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3509 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in ceph-dashboard, published on 26 May 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3509 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: ceph-dashboard. 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-2021-3509/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3509/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3509
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3509
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3509

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3509/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.