# CVE-2021-4016: Rapid7 Insight Agent Improper Access Control

> An attacker can read and copy sensitive files from the snapshot directory due to improper access controls in Rapid7 Insight Agent.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Jan 2022
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-hr69-m797-3q5c

## What is CVE-2021-4016?

CVE-2021-4016 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Rapid7 Insight Agent, published on 21 Jan 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Rapid7 Insight Agent, versions prior to 3.1.3, suffer from an improper access control vulnerability whereby, the user has access to the snapshot directory. An attacker can access, read and copy any of the files in this directory e.g. asset_info.json or file_info.json, leading to a loss of confidentiality. This issue was fixed in Rapid7 Insight Agent 3.1.3.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-4016?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Rapid7 Insight Agent.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-4016?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-4016 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-4016 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-4016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Rapid7 Insight Agent

- [CVE-2026-6482](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-6482/): Local Privilege Escalation via OpenSSL configuration file in Insight Agent (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2021-4007](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4007/): Rapid7 Insight Agent Privilege Escalation (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-5629](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5629/): Privilege escalation in Insight Agent (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2026-4482](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4482/): Insight Agent Private Key Information Disclosure via Inherited File Permissions (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2026-4837](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4837/): Eval Injection in Rapid7 Insight Agent (medium 6.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-4016 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-4016 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Rapid7 Insight Agent, published on 21 Jan 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-2021-4016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Rapid7 Insight Agent. 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-2021-4016/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4016/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-4016
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-4016
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-4016

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-4016/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.