# CVE-2021-35497: TIBCO FTL unvalidated SAN in client certificates

> Authenticated users can exploit unvalidated SANs to create illegitimate certificates, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks and privilege escalation to administrative levels.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9g4v-vrw4-cg8h

## What is CVE-2021-35497?

CVE-2021-35497 is a high-severity vulnerability in TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition, published on 5 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The FTL Server (tibftlserver) and Docker images containing tibftlserver components of TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Developer Edition, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Enterprise Edition, TIBCO FTL - Community Edition, TIBCO FTL - Developer Edition, TIBCO FTL - Enterprise Edition, TIBCO eFTL - Community Edition, TIBCO eFTL - Developer Edition, and TIBCO eFTL - Enterprise Edition contain a vulnerability that theoretically allows a non-administrative, authenticated FTL user to trick the affected components into creating illegitimate certificates. These maliciously generated certificates can be used to enable man-in-the-middle attacks or to escalate privileges so that the malicious user has administrative privileges. Affected releases are TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition: versions 4.3.0, 4.4.0, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 4.6.1, and 4.6.2, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Developer Edition: versions 4.3.0, 4.4.0, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 4.6.1, and 4.6.2, TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Enterprise Edition: versions 4.3.0, 4.4.0, 4.5.0, 4.6.0, 4.6.1, and 4.6.2, TIBCO FTL - Community Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO FTL - Developer Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO FTL - Enterprise Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO eFTL - Community Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, TIBCO eFTL - Developer Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0, and TIBCO eFTL - Enterprise Edition: versions 6.2.0, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.4.0, 6.5.0, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, and 6.7.0.

Weakness: CWE-295 (Improper Certificate Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-35497?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Tibco Activespaces, Tibco Eftl, Tibco Ftl.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-35497?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-35497 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-35497 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35497 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition

- [CVE-2021-28824](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-28824/): TIBCO ActiveSpaces Windows Platform Installation vulnerability (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-12411](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-12411/): TIBCO ActiveSpaces Administrative Daemon Vulnerable to CSRF Attacks (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-35497 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-35497 is a high-severity vulnerability in TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition, published on 5 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-35497 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: TIBCO ActiveSpaces - Community Edition. 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-2021-35497/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35497/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-35497
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-35497
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-35497

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-35497/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.