# CVE-2021-41037: Code injection in Eclipse Equinox p2

> Attackers can inject malicious code into Eclipse installations via unsigned metadata in p2 touchpoints, leading to arbitrary code execution during installation.

- **Severity:** Critical 10.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Jul 2022
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-99r4-wvv3-fpr3

## What is CVE-2021-41037?

CVE-2021-41037 is a critical code injection vulnerability in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Equinox p2, published on 8 Jul 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Eclipse p2, installable units are able to alter the Eclipse Platform installation and the local machine via touchpoints during installation. Those touchpoints can, for example, alter the command-line used to start the application, injecting things like agent or other settings that usually require particular attention in term of security. Although p2 has built-in strategies to ensure artifacts are signed and then to help establish trust, there is no such strategy for the metadata part that does configure such touchpoints. As a result, it's possible to install a unit that will run malicious code during installation without user receiving any warning about this installation step being risky when coming from untrusted source.

Weakness: CWE-829 (Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-41037?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Eclipse Equinox P2.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-41037?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-41037 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-41037 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41037 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-41037 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-41037 is a critical code injection vulnerability in The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Equinox p2, published on 8 Jul 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-2021-41037 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Equinox p2. 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-2021-41037/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41037/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-41037
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41037
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-41037

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41037/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.