# CVE-2021-40498: Denial of service in SAP SuccessFactors Mobile Application (for Android devices)

> Attackers can cause denial of service or facilitate phishing by exploiting Android implementation methods in the SAP SuccessFactors mobile app.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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:** No
- **Published:** 12 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jxxf-6872-8935

## What is CVE-2021-40498?

CVE-2021-40498 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in SAP SuccessFactors Mobile Application (for Android devices), published on 12 Oct 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability has been identified in SAP SuccessFactors Mobile Application for Android - versions older than 2108, which allows an attacker to prevent legitimate users from accessing a service, either by crashing or flooding the service, which can lead to denial of service. The vulnerability is related to Android implementation methods that are widely used across Android mobile applications, and such methods are embedded into the SAP SuccessFactors mobile application. These Android methods begin executing once the user accesses their profile on the mobile application. While executing, it can also pick up the activities from other Android applications that are running in the background of the users device and are using the same types of methods in the application. Such vulnerability can also lead to phishing attacks that can be used for staging other types of attacks.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-40498?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Sap Successfactors Mobile.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-40498?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-40498 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-40498 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-40498 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in SAP SuccessFactors Mobile Application (for Android devices)

- [CVE-2022-35291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35291/): Privilege escalation vulnerability in SAP SuccessFactors attachment API for Mobile Application(Android & iOS) (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-40498 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-40498 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in SAP SuccessFactors Mobile Application (for Android devices), published on 12 Oct 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-2021-40498 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: SAP SuccessFactors Mobile Application (for Android devices). 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-2021-40498/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40498/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-40498
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-40498
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-40498

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40498/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.