# CVE-2021-42539: Emerson WirelessHART Gateway

> Attackers can restore system backups without permission validation, leading to account takeover and unauthorized settings changes in Emerson WirelessHART Gateways.

- **Severity:** High 8.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Oct 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m82f-xpch-cx55

## What is CVE-2021-42539?

CVE-2021-42539 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Emerson WirelessHART Gateway, published on 22 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The affected product is vulnerable to a missing permission validation on system backup restore, which could lead to account take over and unapproved settings change.

Weakness: CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-42539?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Emerson Wireless 1410 Gateway Firmware, Emerson Wireless 1410d Gateway Firmware, Emerson Wireless 1420 Gateway Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-42539?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-42539 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-42539 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-42539 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Emerson WirelessHART Gateway

- [CVE-2020-12030](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12030/): Emerson WirelessHART Gateway (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-38485](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-38485/): Emerson WirelessHART Gateway (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2021-42536](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42536/): Emerson WirelessHART Gateway (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2021-42538](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42538/): Emerson WirelessHART Gateway (high 8.0)
- [CVE-2021-42540](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42540/): Emerson WirelessHART Gateway (high 8.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-42539 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-42539 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Emerson WirelessHART Gateway, published on 22 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-42539 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Emerson WirelessHART 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-2021-42539/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42539/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-42539
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-42539
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-42539

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42539/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.