CVE-2021-1630
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedXML external entity (XXE) vulnerability affecting certain versions of a Mule runtime component that may affect CloudHub, GovCloud, Runtime Fabric, Pivotal Cloud Foundry, Private Cloud Edition, and on-premise customers.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability exists in certain versions of a Mule runtime component. XXE vulnerabilities allow attackers to craft malicious XML documents that reference external entities, potentially enabling disclosure of internal files, server-side request forgery (SSRF), or denial of service by exploiting how the XML parser handles external entity references.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 3.0.0, < 4.3.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Mule runtime versionLocate the Mule installation directory and check the version file or run the version command for your Mule instance. Common locations include the /lib or /runtime directories, or use the mule --version command if available.Affected if The installed version is 3.0.0 or higher but lower than 4.3.0
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Confirm XML processing is in useReview your Mule applications for any XML-based operations such as receiving XML requests, transforming XML using DataWeave or XSLT, parsing XML configuration files, or calling SOAP web services.Affected if Your Mule applications process XML documents without disabling external entity processing
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Check XML parser configuration for external entity settingsInspect the Mule runtime XML parser configuration files or the parser initialization settings used by your applications. Look for settings related to external entity processing, DOCTYPE declarations, or XXE handling.Affected if External entity processing is enabled in the XML parser configuration
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Identify XML transformer or parser usage in flowsReview your Mule flow configurations (XML, YAML, or JSON flow definitions) for transformers such as XML-to-Object, XPath, XSLT, or any component that parses incoming XML payloads.Affected if Flows contain XML transformers or parsers that could process malicious external entity references
You are affected if your Mule runtime version is between 3.0.0 and 4.3.0 (exclusive) AND your applications process XML with external entity processing enabled in the parser configuration.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data4.3.0
Apply the vendor-supplied patch or update to a non-vulnerable version of the Mule runtime component. If immediate patching is not feasible, disable external entity processing in the XML parser configuration as a compensating control.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1630 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-1630 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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