# CVE-2021-35246: Unprotected Transport of Credentials (HSTS) Vulnerability

> Attackers can bypass SSL/TLS encryption to intercept credentials and launch attacks against users of SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:** No
- **Published:** 23 Nov 2022
- **Updated:** 25 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-855x-qr5w-6pwv

## What is CVE-2021-35246?

CVE-2021-35246 is a medium-severity vulnerability in SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset, published on 23 Nov 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The application fails to prevent users from connecting to it over unencrypted connections. An attacker able to modify a legitimate user's network traffic could bypass the application's use of SSL/TLS encryption and use the application as a platform for attacks against its users.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-35246?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Engineer\'s Toolset.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-35246?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-35246 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-35246 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35246 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-35246 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-35246 is a medium-severity vulnerability in SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset, published on 23 Nov 2022. 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-2021-35246 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: SolarWinds Engineer's Toolset. 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-2021-35246/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35246/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-35246
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-35246
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-35246

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35246/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.