# CVE-2021-3551: Information disclosure in pki-server

> Local attackers can read admin credentials from debug logs in PKI-server, leading to privilege escalation and unauthorized access to the CA manager.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 16 Feb 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2021-3551, GHSA-9ggg-37fj-xc96, RHSA-2021:2235, RLSA-2021:2235, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-3551

## What is CVE-2021-3551?

CVE-2021-3551 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 16 Feb 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the PKI-server, where the spkispawn command, when run in debug mode, stores admin credentials in the installation log file. This flaw allows a local attacker to retrieve the file to obtain the admin password and gain admin privileges to the Dogtag CA manager. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality.

Weakness: CWE-312 (Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-3551?

It affects 12 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `jss` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.8.1-2.module+el8.4.0+10451+3e5b5448 |
| `jss-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.8.1-2.module+el8.4.0+10451+3e5b5448 |
| `jss-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.8.1-2.module+el8.4.0+10451+3e5b5448 |
| `jss-javadoc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.8.1-2.module+el8.4.0+10451+3e5b5448 |
| `ldapjdk` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.22.0-1.module+el8.3.0+6784+6e1e4c62 |
| `ldapjdk-javadoc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:4.22.0-1.module+el8.3.0+6784+6e1e4c62 |
| `pki-acme` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-base` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-base-java` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-ca` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-core` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-core-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-core-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-kra` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-server` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-symkey` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-symkey-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-tools` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `pki-tools-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `python3-pki` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+11039+635979e4 |
| `tomcatjss` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:7.6.1-1.module+el8.4.0+8778+d07929ff |
| `jss` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:4.8.1-2.module+el8.4.0+418+b7ae1d4a |
| `ldapjdk` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:4.22.0-1.module+el8.4.0+418+b7ae1d4a |
| `pki-core` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:10.10.5-3.module+el8.4.0+554+92b527a1 |
| `tomcatjss` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:7.6.1-1.module+el8.4.0+418+b7ae1d4a |

Products: Dogtagpki Dogtagpki, Fedoraproject Fedora, Oracle Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux for Ibm Z Systems, Redhat Enterprise Linux for Ibm Z Systems Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux for Power Little Endian, Redhat Enterprise Linux for Power Little Endian Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Update Services for Sap Solutions.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-3551?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2021-3551 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-3551 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2021-20179](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-20179/): Business logic in pki-core (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2022-2414](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2414/): XML external entity in Dogtag PKI (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-1080](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1080/): Auth bypass in pki-core (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-15720](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15720/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2020-25715](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-25715/): Cross-site scripting in pki-core (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-3551 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-3551 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 16 Feb 2022. 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-2021-3551 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. 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-2021-3551/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3551/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-3551
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-3551
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-3551

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3551/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.