# CVE-2021-35228: Reflected cross site scripting affecting SolarWinds: DPA 2021.3.7388

> Reflected XSS in SolarWinds DPA allows attackers to execute scripts via manipulated headers, requiring a Man-in-the-Middle position.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j8cq-p5c8-344h

## What is CVE-2021-35228?

CVE-2021-35228 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in SolarWinds, published on 21 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

This vulnerability occurred due to missing input sanitization for one of the output fields that is extracted from headers on specific section of page causing a reflective cross site scripting attack. An attacker would need to perform a Man in the Middle attack in order to change header for a remote victim.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-35228?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Database Performance Analyzer.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-35228?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-35228 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-35228 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35228 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in SolarWinds

- [CVE-2023-23837](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-23837/): No Exception Handling Vulnerability: Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) 2023.1 (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2022-38112](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-38112/): Sensitive Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-35229](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35229/): Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability using SQL Query (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2023-23838](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-23838/): Directory traversal and file enumeration vulnerability: Database Performance Analyzer (DPA) 2023.1 (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2023-33231](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-33231/): XSS in SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer 2023.2 (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-35228 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-35228 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in SolarWinds, published on 21 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35228 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: SolarWinds. 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-2021-35228/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35228/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-35228
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-35228
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-35228

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35228/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.