# CVE-2021-35248: Unrestricted access to Orion.UserSettings SWIS entity for low-privilege users

> Low-privilege users can access the Orion.UserSettings entity to enumerate users and their basic settings due to missing authorization checks.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qrg3-9cf5-hgw8

## What is CVE-2021-35248?

CVE-2021-35248 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in SolarWinds Orion, published on 20 Dec 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

It has been reported that any Orion user, e.g. guest accounts can query the Orion.UserSettings entity and enumerate users and their basic settings.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-35248?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Solarwinds Orion Platform.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-35248?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-35248 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-35248 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35248 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in SolarWinds Orion

- [CVE-2020-10148](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10148/): SolarWinds Orion Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-27258](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27258/): Privilege escalation in Orion Platform (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-25274](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25274/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-9546](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-9546/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-13169](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-13169/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (critical 9.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-35248 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-35248 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in SolarWinds Orion, published on 20 Dec 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35248 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: SolarWinds Orion. 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-2021-35248/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35248/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-35248
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-35248
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-35248

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35248/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.