# CVE-2021-38944: Cross-site scripting in DataPower Gateway

> An attacker can inject HTTP headers to perform cross-site scripting, cache poisoning, or session hijacking on IBM DataPower Gateway.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/C:L/A:N/I:L/UI:N/PR:N/S:U/AC:H/E:U/RC:C/RL:O`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 May 2022
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-wcj9-hxh3-xw55

## What is CVE-2021-38944?

CVE-2021-38944 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ibm Datapower Gateway, published on 18 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM DataPower Gateway 10.0.2.0 through 1.0.3.0, 10.0.1.0 through 10.0.1.5, and 2018.4.1.0 through 2018.4.1.18 is vulnerable to HTTP header injection, caused by improper validation of input by the HOST headers. This could allow an attacker to conduct various attacks against the vulnerable system, including cross-site scripting, cache poisoning or session hijacking. IBM X-Force ID: 211236.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-38944?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Datapower Gateway.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-38944?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-38944 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-38944 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-38944 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Datapower Gateway

- [CVE-2026-14269](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14269/): IBM DataPower Gateway Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-14502](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14502/): IBM DataPower Gateway Improper Authentication (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-14991](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14991/): IBM DataPower Gateway Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-14992](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14992/): IBM DataPower Gateway Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-15762](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-15762/): IBM DataPower Gateway Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-38944 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-38944 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ibm Datapower Gateway, published on 18 May 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-2021-38944 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Datapower Gateway. 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-2021-38944/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38944/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-38944
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38944
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-38944

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38944/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.